


Tumblr Drabbles and Short Stories

by betsib



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 02:46:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 37,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2605742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betsib/pseuds/betsib
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles and short stories from my Tumblr. Parings and ratings depend on the story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jasico - First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: JASICO FIRST KISS TURNS TO FLUTTERING HEARTS MAKEOUT and im dead

“What is it like to kiss someone?”

Jason looked up in surprise. Nico sat in front of him on the floor of the Hades cabin, blushing violently. They had hung out together a lot since the war ended, but usually they avoided topics like this. The few times Jason had tried to bring it up Nico immediately shot him down, which was why the question surprised him.

“It’s…nice?” Jason tried, not really sure how to describe it. “It feels good. I don’t know, I think it’s different for every person.”

“Oh,” Nico said, sounding a bit disappointed

“It’s not easy to put to words,” Jason said. “ The only way to know is to try it.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not happening anytime soon,“ Nico said with a hollow laugh. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

 “It’s fine,” Jason smiled, then something occurred to him. “You know, I could show you, if you want me to.”

“Show me what?” Nico asked, eying him suspiciously.

“How kisses feel,” Jason clarified, watching Nico’s eyes widen in shock.

A moment later the shock turned to anger. “Stop kidding around!”

“I’m not. A lot of people get their first kisses from their friends,” Jason said. “My first was a girl I knew when we were eight. It’s completely innocent.“

“When you were eight. That makes me feel so much better,” Nico muttered, looking down at his hands. Jason frowned at him.

“Look, we don’t have to,” Jason said. “I just thought you might want to.”

Nico blushed again, looking at Jason with his face half-hidden behind his bangs. “You really wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not,” Jason smiled, patting the floor beside him. “Come here.”

Nico sat down beside him, looking tense and ready to run. Jason reached out to gently rub his thumb against Nico’s neck to get him to relax.  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, leaning closer. Nico closed his eyes, and the thought that he might be imaging Percy ran through Jason’s mind. It annoyed him more than he expected it to.

“Hey, look at me,” Jason said, and Nico opened his eyes again, seemingly confused. Jason gently stroked his cheek, and Nico shivered beneath his fingers. “Relax,” Jason urged him, then slowly brought their lips together, ignoring the way his heart rate sped up.

It was only supposed to be a short, chaste kiss, but Jason held on a bit longer than was necessary for a demonstration. He was surprised by how nice Nico’s lips felt beneath his own. They weren’t soft or full like Piper’s, but they fit well with his. Jason could almost taste something he couldn’t quite place, and it was intriguing. When Nico awkwardly responded to the kiss, Jason’s stomach filled with butterflies. He couldn’t resist licking Nico’s lower lip, and the boy gasped in surprise, opening his mouth enough for Jason to enter. Nico tasted of apples and coffee and something else, and Jason found he wanted more of it. Judging by the way his tongue met Jason’s Nico didn’t mind it either.

Nico gave a low moan as Jason put an arm around his waist and pulled him into his lap. The hand that had been on Nico’s was now in his hair, gently holding him close as his tongue stroked the roof of Nico’s mouth, causing him to gasp for air.

When they finally parted they were both breathing heavily. Jason felt a bit dazed as he looked at Nico, who seemed to feel the same way. As his breathing and heart rate returned to normal Jason started to realize that had  _definitely_ not just been an innocent kiss between friends. And that he wanted to do it again.

“I should go,” Nico said, blushing deeply and looking uncomfortable. He made an attempt to get up, but Jason was still holding him.

“Wait,” he said. “This is your cabin. I should be the one to go.”

“Then do it. And let go of me,” Nico said, angrily looking away from Jason, who released his grip on him. Nico immediately got up, his legs apparently shaking a bit.

“I’m sorry,” Jason said as he got up as well. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far.”

“Just go,” Nico said, standing with his back towards Jason and put his arms around himself like he was cold.

“I will, it’s just…”Jason begun, unsure how to say this. “I really enjoyed kissing you. And I think I might like you.”

Nico turned to look at him wide eyed. Jason gave him a smile. “I know you still like Percy though. You don’t have to do anything. I just thought you should know.”

He turned to leave, but Nico stopped him.

“Wait, you like  _me?_ ” he repeated, sounding confused. “What about Piper? When did this happen?”

“Piper broke up with me a while ago. I’m sure I told you about that,” Jason frowned. “And I didn’t really realize it before kissing you just now, but it’s been going on for a while, I think.”

“I…” Nico said, hesitating. “I don’t think I like Percy that way anymore.”

Jason’s heart jumped a little at that. “That’s good,” Jason said, trying to keep calm. “You’ll find someone else.”

“I’m trying to say I already have,” Nico scowled. “So if you wanted to kiss me again, that would be fine.”

Jason blinked, smiling widely as Nico’s face turned even redder. Jason walked over to him, reaching out to stroke his cheek again.

“Why did you tell me to leave?” he asked quietly.

“Because I thought you were just demonstrating, and that was all it was,” Nico said. “And I shouldn’t have agreed to it, but I couldn’t…”

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jason said, pulling him closer. “I’m glad you did.”

He leaned down for another kiss. It had so much more meaning now.


	2. Percico, One-sided Jasico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by Midnightinjapan: Nico and Percy are together and Jason has realized he has feeling for Nico but he sees Nico is happy and decides to leave it alone.

Jason couldn’t even deny it anymore.

Watching Nico and Percy sitting on the beach with their arms around each other was painful, even though Jason knew it shouldn’t be. He had no right to be jealous.

Still a part of him, a part Jason tried desperately to repress because he wanted to be a good person, wished things could go back to the way they used to be, Jason and Nico hanging out on the floor of the Jupiter cabin, talking and laughing with each other. Sometimes they would talk about Nico’s unrequited feelings, sometimes Nico would cry in his arms, and Jason missed that.

Nico’s crush on Percy had seemed impossible, and yet there they were now, kissing each other like nothing else mattered. Nico was happier than he’d ever been, and Jason had never been more miserable.

He hadn’t even realized how much he liked Nico until a few days after Nico and Percy had gotten together, and by then it was far too late. So he smiled and congratulated them, trying his best not to let his feelings show. It wasn’t easy, but he managed. He had to, for Nico’s sake.

It was a bit ironic, really. He had always encouraged Nico to tell Percy about his crush, so he would know Percy accepted him even if he didn’t return Nico’s feelings, but here Jason was, in a similar situation and doing everything he could to hide it. The difference was that Jason already knew Nico wouldn’t hate him for this, but it would make things awkward between them. And it might make Nico sad. The kid had just found the happiness he’d been looking for for years, and Jason couldn’t take that away from him.

So he did what every best friend would do, and threatened Percy with the pain of a thousand lightning bolts if he ever hurt Nico, and then stayed out of their way.

He hoped he would get over it soon, but in the meantime, he clung to the fact that Nico was happy, and that was enough.

That was enough.


	3. Jason/Nico/Percy - Ice cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by [skyekg](http://skyekg.tumblr.com/): Are you still taking prompts, because I was curious (very very very) curious about the Nico-ate-popsicle-while-Percy-and-Jason-being-affected. Prompt, please?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: NSFW

Jason really hadn’t thought it through.

He, Percy and Nico had been sent on a quest to defeat a bunch of monsters running rampage some ways away from Los Angeles, though calling it a quest was giving it too much credit. Between the three of them the battle had been over in minutes. They had been walking along the beach afterwards, when Percy suddenly decided he wanted ice cream.

Nico had said he didn’t like sweet things and would wait for them to come back, but while looking over the menu of the ice cream shop Jason was hit by a bolt of inspiration and bought him a sea-salt popsicle anyway. Nico frowned at him when Jason handed the popsicle over.

“I told you I didn’t want anything,” he said.

“Just try it,” Jason said. “It’s both salty and sweet. You might like it.”

Nico reluctantly accepted the popsicle and gave it an experimental lick. His eyes widened. “It’s strange, but actually pretty good.”

The point of it all, of course, was to have Nico eat the popsicle in front of Percy, to see if there was any reaction at all. It was a cheap trick, but if Percy even had a speck of interest in Nico it Jason was confident it would work.

He had been subtly trying to pair them together for a while now, since Annabeth and Percy unexpectedly broke up shortly after Jason and Piper did the same thing. They were all still friends, of course, but the relationship wasn’t working anymore. Jason even suspected Annabeth and Piper might have gotten together, but he wasn’t sure. So Jason had too much time on his hands and was playing matchmaker, because Nico deserved all the happiness in the world. Hence, the popsicle.

Which Jason really hadn’t thought through.

Nico was clearly enjoying the taste of the strange blue ice cream, judging from the way he engulfed the top of it in his mouth and then pulled it out again, letting his lips catch the slowly melting top layer. Then he licked the bottom of the shaft so the melted ice cream wouldn’t run down his fingers. Jason caught himself staring at him with a lump in  his throat.

He shook his head to clear it, and tore his eyes away from Nico to look over at Percy to see if that part of the plan had worked. Judging by the way Percy had frozen with his own quickly melting ice cream just inches away from half open mouth while his eyes were focused on Nico it certainly seemed like it had. Jason looked back at Nico, but the boy apparently hadn’t noticed anything. He made a low appreciate sound as he took the ice cream deep into his mouth, and Jason could feel his pants getting tighter, which really, really hadn’t been part of the plan.

“I’m going for a swim!” Percy suddenly announced, quickly getting up from the beach.

“I’m coming with you,” Jason said, hurrying to do the same while trying to hide the bulge in his pants. The sea would be cold, so going swimming was an excellent idea.

Nico frowned at them. “You didn’t bring any swimwear,” he pointed out, proceeding to lick the underside of the popsicle while looking up at them. Jason swallowed.

“It’s fine, I’ll dry us later,” Percy said, grinning even if his face was red and his voice a little unsteady. “Last one in is a gorgon!”

He ran out into the water, and Jason followed quickly. He wasn’t fond of swimming in the ocean, it wasn’t his element, but right now the cold water was a godsend. He let himself get soaked, which helped clear his mind. Somewhat

Percy was laughing when they walked back towards Nico a while later, dripping wet.Thankfully Nico had finished his ice cream by then.

“Hello, gorgon,” Percy said. “You could have joined us.”

Nico could certainly glare like a gorgon when he wanted to, but right now he just blushed and looked away. “I don’t like swimming,” he mumbled. “Now dry yourselves so we can get out of here.”

Right, they were soaked and their clothes were sticking to their bodies, of course Nico was uncomfortable. Jason almost laughed at the turnabout. Percy quickly removed the water from their clothes, and Nico took their hands and let the shadows swallow them up.

Once they got back to camp and had reported to Chiron they all went to their separate tables to eat and then back to their cabins. Jason sat down on his bed, thinking back on what had happened on the beach.

He blushed as he remembered Nico’s mouth around the blue popsicle. He really hadn’t counted on having such a strong reaction to it, but now that he thought about it, it made sense. Jason had been trying to get Nico and Percy together for Nico’s sake, but somewhere along the line he had fallen for the boy himself without realizing it. He wonded if that’s why his attempts had been so half hearted, and always included himself in some way. Like that “quest” to the carnival, or the movie he dragged both of them to. Jason laughed to himself. It was ironic, really. The very day Nico’s chances with Percy skyrockets Jason realizes he’d rather have the boy to himself.

There was a knock on his door a while later. Jason had hoped it would be Nico, but when he opened the door Percy was standing outside, looking strangely nervous.

“Hi,” he said. “I need to talk to you about something weird. Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Jason said stepping back into the cabin. He sat down on the bed while Percy took a chair.

“So I was wondering, you’re pretty much Nico’s best friend, right?” Percy said. “Do you know if he’s interested in guys?”

Jason wasn’t really sure how to answer that. “We don’t really talk about it,” he said carefully. It was the truth, after all. Nico refused to talk to him about it anymore, usually just blushing violently and either change the subject or run off.  “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“I figured that since he’s from the thirties he might be offended,” Percy said, frowning at Jason. “You look like you’re going to murder me. Have I done something wrong?”

Jason blinked. He hadn’t even realized he was doing it. This was a day for realizations, it seemed. “No, sorry,” he said. “It’s been a weird day.”

“I can relate to that,” Percy laughed nervously. “That popsicle thing with Nico today really did a number on me. I guess you feel the same, huh?”

So much for Percy not being observant. Jason shrugged. “I guess,” he said trying to seem dismissive, though Percy’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“You gave him the popsicle,” he said. “Did you plan on this?”

“No, I didn’t think seeing Nico eating ice cream would make me hard” Jason said honestly, blushing a bit.

“Well, neither did I, but the way he…” Percy trailed off and made a vague gesture in the air, but Jason understood what he meant.

“I don’t think he was doing it on purpose,” Jason said, trying his best not to think back at Nico’s mouth encircling the popsicle and failing miserably. Judging by Percy’s increasingly red face he was doing the same. He was just about to say something more when there was another knock on the door.

This time Nico was standing outside, and Jason couldn’t help blushing deeper at the sight of him. Nico frowned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and Jason nodded and let him in. He seemed a bit surprised Percy was there as well, especially since Percy reacted pretty much the same way Jason did about his presence. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No,” Percy said quickly. “Well, yes. But we were talking about you so it’s fine.”

“Me?” Nico asked, sounding confused as he glanced over at Jason, who shrugged.

“Maybe I should just leave you two alone to talk,” he said reluctantly. He really didn’t want to, but it would be selfish to stand in their way. He was the third wheel, after all. Jason tried not to be bitter about it.

“Jason, what’s going on?” Nico asked, a little frightened.

“We’re in the same boat here so you’re not allowed to leave,” Percy said in a similar tone. Jason sighed and sat down on the bed again. The room was silent for a long while.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Percy finally said, breaking the silence. “Ehmm…”

He trailed off, looking at Jason for help. Jason sighed and turned to Nico. “Percy came here to ask me if I knew whether or not you liked guys.”

Nico immediately turned red. “You promised,” he said angrily.

“I told him we don’t really talk about it,” Jason said, holding his hands up in defence.

“Wait, does this mean you’re gay?” Percy asked, and Nico’s angry expression turned frightened. Jason reached out to grab his arm so he wouldn’t run away.

“Jason, let go of me!” Nico said, struggling to get free.

“Nico, it’s okay,” Jason said reassuringly while trying to signal Percy to say something as well.

“Yeah, Jason and I occasionally likes guys as well. It’s no big deal,” Percy said. Nico froze and just stared at them with his mouth slightly open. His eyes kept moving between them, and Jason suddenly realized the implication of what Percy had said.

“Not each other,” he scowled. “And before you get angry that I’ve never told you, I basically realized this today.”

“What happened today?” Nico asked in a small voice.

Percy laughed a bit at that. “He really didn’t realize, did he?”

“You’re not helping,” Jason said sternly as Nico just looked even more confused.

“Are you talking about when you two went swimming together?” he asked. Jason rolled his eyes.

“I told you, we’re not talking about each other,” he said. “Were talking about what made us go swimming in the first place.”

“Seriously, Nico. Do you always eat popsicles like that?” Percy asked, grinning. Nico gave him a completely incomprehensive look before suddenly growing as red as a tomato.

“That wasn’t…I didn’t…” he stammered, looking frightened and embarrassed in equal parts.

“Calm down, Nico, relax,” Jason said. “We’re not asking you to do anything, okay?”

“What we’re asking is if you’d be interested starting something that may or may not eventually lead to things like that,” Percy said. “By which I mean dating.”

“What?” Nico asked helplessly, looking between them. “Both of you?”

“We’re both asking, yeah,” Jason said. “But it’s your choice, and no hard feelings either way.”

“Oh,” Nico said, still clearly overwhelmed. “I don’t really…I need to sit down.”

He promptly sat down on the floor, still looking shocked.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked, sitting down in front of him. Percy followed a moment later.

“I’m confused,” Nico admitted. “You both suddenly want to date me? Because I ate a popsicle and it looked like I was… like I was doing something else?”

“That’s what set this off,” Jason said. “But I’ve been thinking hard about this, and I really like you.”

“Same here,” Percy added. “I didn’t really see you in that light before, but now I do. And I think we’d be good together.”

“Are you sure this isn’t just about you two feeling needy because your girlfriends broke up with you?” Nico asked suspiciously.

“You’re asking if we just like you because we’re really horny and want sex?” Percy asked, laughing as Nico turned red again. “That’s not it, Nico. I like you. Even though I admit I am still feeling kinda horny after watching you eat that thing.“

Nico turned to Jason, who blushed a bit as he nodded. “I feel the same, but I’ll never mention it again if you don’t want me to.”

Nico buried his head in his hands. “I can’t do this.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Percy said, though he clearly sounded a bit disappointed.

“You don’t understand. I want to,” Nico said behind his hands. “But I can’t choose. And I doubt either of you would stay afterwards anyway.”

“Nico…” Jason started.

“Only one way to find out, right?” Nico interrupted him, laughing bitterly as he looked up at them. “So who’s first?”

“Nico, you don’t have to…,” Percy said, then gasped as Nico moved, placing a hand on his groin. Jason could see him turning hard immediately.

“I want to,” Nico said hotly and there was something desperate in his voice as he moved to sit between Percy’s legs. “Of course I want to.”

Jason watched as his hand moved on Percy’s waist, opening his pants and revealing Percy’s erection. Nico looked at him for a moment, then went down on his elbows, experimentally tasting the tip of Percy’s cock, causing Percy to moan loudly.

“Nico,” he gasped, his hands tangled in Nico’s hair as the boy begun to suck him. Jason felt like a voyeur where he sat right beside them, watching as Nico’d head moved up and down between Percy’s legs. He should probably have left, but he couldn’t take his eyes off them. His brain hadn’t really caught up with what was happening yet. This had gone too far too fast.

“Nico, please, I’m going to…,” Percy moaned, and Nico moved his head out of the way and finished him with his hand instead. Percy came with a loud yell, then slumped, breathing heavily as Nico sat up in front of him. Nico’s face was a mixture of emotions, not all of them positive. When Percy made a move to kiss him he backed away and turned towards Jason instead.

Jason realized what he was going to do the second before he did it, and managed to catch Nico’s hand before it reached his throbbing erection.

“Nico, wait. What are you doing?” he asked, and a hurt look passed over Nico’s features.

“I’m giving you what you wanted,” he said, and Jason gasped, somehow forgetting that Nico had more than one hand. The other one was caressing him through his pants, and Jason couldn’t really think straight. Nico was right, wasn’t he?

“I want you,” Jason murmured as Nico sank down between his legs. Jason looked down to see Nico bring his cock to his mouth, licking the shaft and causing Jason to moan. The rest was a blur of pleasure and the amazing image of Nico’s mouth encircling his cock. He barely had time to warn him before he came, screaming Nico’s name.

He had wanted to hold Nico close to him as the afterglow faded, but the boy moved away from him as well, suddenly looking lost and frightened. His cheeks were red and his lips swollen, and he seemed like he was going to start crying any second. Or run.

“Nico,” Percy said, clearly thinking along the same lines as Jason as he quickly moved to grab Nico’s arm and drag him down to the floor again. “Don’t go. Please.”

Jason moved closer and grabbed Nico’s other arm just to be sure he stayed.

“Let me go,” Nico said, his voice sounding rough. “This was all you two wanted, right? You don’t want me, not really.”

“Nico, stop,” Jason said as sternly as he could considering what had just happened. “We told you this wasn’t all there was. I like you. I’m not going to leave unless you want me to.”

“Me neither,” Percy said on Nico’s other side. “I meant what I said. And honestly, if you’re trying to chase us away you definitely chose the wrong method.”

Nico looked at them, bewildered, confused and more than a little aroused. Jason figured it was one way to prove he was serious, and only fair.He slipped his hand down the front of Nico’s trousers, hearing his breath hitch as Jason gently touched his erection through the fabric.

“Do you want me to take care of this for you?” he asked, and suddenly his hand was joined by Percy’s. Nico gave a quiet nod, then threw his head back to moan as Percy stuck his hand inside Nico’s pants. Jason hurried to open the zipper to give him more space, then moved to caress Nico’s balls as Percy worked on the shaft. Their other hands were steadying the boy as he moaned their names. Nico didn’t last long.

He collapsed into their arms, breathing heavily and looking up at them through half closed lids. Jason was pretty sure he hadn’t seen anyone look so cute ever before. He leaned in to kiss Nico’s eyelid as Percy did the same to his shoulder.

“So about that date…” Percy said smugly as Nico’s breathing started to return to normal.

“I’m sorry,” Nico interrupted him. “I can’t choose between you. I just can’t.”

Jason and Percy exchanged a look above Nico’s head. Percy raised a questioning eyebrow, and Jason shrugged as an answer, causing Percy to grin.

“We’re fine with that,” he said, and Nico gave him a confused look.

“Yeah, the three of us are doing okay on quests, right?” Jason smiled. “Dating shouldn’t be a problem.”

“The three of us?” Nico repeated. “But…”

“Only if you’re okay with it,” Percy said.

“Of course I’m okay with it,” Nico said. “But…are you sure? I mean, three people, three guys…”

“We’ll be fine,” Jason said, leaning in to capture his lips for the first time. It wasn’t more than a peck, a promise for the future, and as soon as Jason pulled away Percy leaned in to give Nico a much deeper kiss.

As they parted, Nico smiled, pulling both of them closer. “Perhaps we will be.”


	4. Percico - "Are you flirting with me?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by [midnightinjapan](http://midnightinjapan.tumblr.com/):"Are you flirting with me?" Percico of course because I know you're going to get a ton of Jasico requests.

Even two years after the war, Nico still had a habit of showing up from nowhere with missions or quests. Percy had tried to tell him they’d be glad to see him even if he didn’t have a particular reason for visiting, but somehow Nico didn’t seem to believe him. So when Percy ran into him outside his cabin, he already knew something was going on. Still, he smiled brightly towards him.

"Hey, Nico. What’s new?" Percy asked, and Nico turned towards him, looking serious.

"A couple of unclaimed demigods have been kidnapped," he said. "I need your help to get them out."

"Sure," Percy said. "But why not just get them yourself?"

"Because they were kidnapped by Telekhines, and the cave they’re kept in is underwater," Nico said, looking a bit embarrassed. "Look, I wouldn’t ask I if I could do this myself, but I’m powerless against water. And nobody else can control it like you can. I need you for this."

"Geez, Nico, such compliments. Are you flirting with me?" Percy laughed. For some reason Nico turned white as a ghost.

"That’s not…I didn’t…" Nico stammered, and then blushed so deep Percy though his head was going to explode.

"I was just kidding, Nico," Percy frowned. "You okay?"

"Fine," Nico muttered angrily, then turned and started walking away, despite them having been in the middle of a conversation. Percy hesitated before running after him.

"Wait, why are you so upset?" he asked, grabbing Nico’s arm to stop him. Nico jumped away from him like he had been burned.

"Don’t touch me!" he said. "And I’m not upset! I’m fine."

"You’re clearly not fine," Percy said, getting concerned. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing!" Nico insisted angrily. "I’ll see you later." He tried to walk off again, but Percy caught up with him.

"What about the demigod-kids?" Percy asked, mostly because he knew that would work. Nico wouldn’t just abandon them, no matter what was wrong. "Shouldn’t we go get them right away?"

Nico stopped. “Right,” he nodded, clearly gritting his teeth. “Let’s get it over with.”

He grabbed Percy’s arm in an almost painful grip, then dragged him through the shadows. Even after all this time, it was still an exhilarating experience.

The battle that followed was nothing to write home about. They came, they saw, they conquered, and rescued two demigods in the process. All in a day’s work.

Of course, Nico tried to run off again the moment he brought them back to camp.

"Don’t you dare. We still need to talk," Percy said, grabbing his hand as the rest of the campers fussed over the newcomers. Nico’s face turned bright red and he tried to pull his hand back, but Percy held on.

"Come on," he said, dragging Nico with him to the Poseidon cabin. Even when they were inside Percy didn’t let go, because Nico looked like he was searching for shadows to disappear into.

"So, anything you want to tell me?" Percy asked, and Nico looked absolutely terrified for half a second before looking down at the floor again.

"No," he said. "Let go."

"Nico, is this really because of what I said?" Percy asked. "I was just kidding, you know?"

"I know," Nico said, and Percy wondered if he imagined the bitter undertone to his word.

"You know," Percy begun hesitatingly. "If you  _had_  been flirting with me…”

"I wasn’t," Nico interrupted, still not looking at him.

"If you had been," Percy continued. "I wouldn’t have had a problem with it."

Nico’s head snapped up. For a moment he looked surprised, then confused, then angry.

"Really?" he asked, making it sound like a threat, but Percy held his ground, nodding.

"Really," he said. Nico kept looking at him, and Percy held his gaze, watching as the anger slowly disappeared from his eyes, leaving a kind of weariness in its wake.

"I still wasn’t," he said tiredly. "No let go of me. I need to get back to the underworld."

Percy sighed, then reluctantly let go of his hand. “Fine,” he said. “But I expect you to come back soon, with or without missions. Promise me.”

Nico gave him a pale smile. “I promise,” he said, then disappeared into the shadows. Percy looked after him for a while, then shook his head and went to bed. Maybe the next time would go better.


	5. Percico - A Nightly Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some pointless Percico smut for [Midnightinjapan](http://midnightinjapan.tumblr.com/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: NSFW

Percy woke up with the distinct feeling of someone watching him. He opened his eyes, planning on grabbing Riptide and making a surprise attack.

"It’s just me, Percy," a familiar voice said, stopping him in his tracks. He looked up to see Nico di Angelo standing in the shadows.

"Really, Nico? You’re watching me sleep?" Percy said, grinning a bit. "I don’t care what romance novels say, it’s creepy."

Even in the darkness of his room, Percy could see Nico blush at that. “I wasn’t watching you sleep,” he muttered defensively. “I just wasn’t sure if I should wake you up or leave. I thought you’d be at camp.”

"My mom asked me to stay over for a couple of days," Percy shrugged, reaching out for the younger boy. "Come here."

Nico visibly hesitated before sitting down beside Percy on the bed. Even after dating for months Nico was still nervous around him, like he needed some sort of confirmation every time. Percy was more than happy to give it, though. He leaned in to press their lips together in a hungry kiss. Nico’s response was immediate.

"I missed you," Percy smiled as they parted, before moving his mouth to suck on Nico’s neck. Nico moaned quietly, protesting a bit.

"Didn’t you say your mother was home?" he asked, and Percy nodded against his neck.

"Yeah, and my stepfather, but they’re asleep," he said, slowly moving his hands underneath the edge of Nico’s shirt. "So let’s try to be quiet, okay?"

"Percy," Nico begun, but trailed off when Percy slowly pushed him down on the bed. Nico went willingly, watching him with those huge, dark,  _gorgeous_  eyes.

"I want you so much, you have no idea," Percy murmured into Nico’s exposed stomach as he started to bring his shirt over his head.

Nico chuckled, and Percy could feel the sound vibrate trough him. “I’m pretty sure I know  _exactly_  how you feel.”

Percy grinned, throwing his own shirt off without ceremony. “Good,” he said. “Now shush. We need to be quiet.”

Nico nodded, trembling a bit as Percy slowly opened the zipper to his pants and started sliding them down his hips. Percy couldn’t help smiling triumphantly when he saw just how affected Nico was by all this already. When Percy took a gentle hold of him and leaned down to taste him, Nico covered his mouth with both his hands, trying to stifle his moans.

Nico was usually pretty loud when Percy did this, and it was really cute to see him try so hard to be quiet. On the other hand Percy missed the sounds he made. Despite trying not to wake his parents up, Percy decided it wasn’t enough. He withdrew, and Nico made a protesting sound.

"Turn around," Percy urged him, and Nico did as he asked, looking slightly uncertain.

"Percy, are you sure you want to…?" he whispered. "I mean, here?"

"Just try not to make a sound," Percy grinned, finding some wicked pleasure in the fact that he  _knew_  Nico wouldn’t be able to stay silent. He just hoped his mother and Paul slept  _really_  heavily tonight. Still smiling, he kissed Nico’s lower back, slowly caressing his ass before gently parting the cheeks and running his tongue down the rift between them. Nico moaned as he reached his hole. The taste wasn’t exactly awesome, but the way Nico moved beneath him, whimpering as he tried to be quiet, more than made up for it. Percy was prodding at him with his tongue, then licked around as he used his fingers to stretch him out, glad he’d had foresight enough to keep the lube in his backback when he went to stay with his mom.

"Percy," Nico whispered, clearly getting desperate. "Percy,  _please…_ ”

Percy couldn’t have denied him if he’d wanted to. He took a hold on Nico’s hips, then slowly entered. Nico made a muffled sound like he was biting the pillow, but Percy’s eyes were closed. They had to be, or he would have come on the spot.

When they both had adjusted, Percy opened his eyes again and started moving, slowly at first. Nico was definitely biting a pillow in order to muffle his moans, but Percy was having a hard time being quiet. He leaned down above Nico, lifting his body a bit to be able to suck his skin. Nico got louder as he got closer to his climax, and Percy probably did as well, though he wasn’t really aware of it. Nothing existed except Nico and him and the pleasure their connection brought.

Nico came first, but managed to bring Percy over the edge with him. They collapsed onto the bed, out of breath and in pure bliss. Percy eventually had to pull out, but he immediately brought Nico closer again, lazily kissing his eyelid.

"You’re amazing," he murmured, dragging a hand through Nico’s hair.

"Also loud. There’s no way your parents didn’t hear that," Nico said, sounding a bit worried. He was probably right, but Percy felt way too good to worry about that right now.

"It’s okay," Percy said sleepily. "Stay with me, okay?"

"Okay," Nico said, relaxing against him. With their arms around each other, they fell asleep.

They were woken up the following morning by a knock on the door.

"Percy, why don’t you and your boyfriend come eat breakfast?" his mother’s voice came through the door. "We’d really like to meet him."

Percy looked down at the boy in his arms, unsurprised that he’d turned completely red. Percy was pretty embarrassed himself, to be honest.

"What do you say? Wanna meet my mom and stepdad?" Percy asked, and Nico made a face at him.

"I’ve already met them," he pointed out. "I’m leaving."

"No, you’re not," Percy said. "You can’t just leave now. I can’t face them alone. Come on, don’t you love me?"

Nico scowled. “I hate you,” he muttered. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”

Percy smiled, capturing Nico’s lips for a sloppy kiss which would definitely have gone further if his mother wasn’t waiting for them.

"Ready?" Percy asked, and Nico rolled his eyes.

"No," he said. "Let’s go."


	6. Jasico - "I'm lost."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: "I’m lost." Jasico. Please~~

"I’m lost," Jason admitted, looking down at the cards in his hands. "Completely lost. Why can’t I use the Emposai card against the Cyclopes again?"

Nico sighed. “Because the Emposiai’s primary power is fire based, and the Cyclopes are immune to fire,” he explained. “Like in real life. This shouldn’t be too hard.”

"Yeah, okay, but you also told me to use the Siren Song on Orpheus, which makes no sense," Jason pointed out. "Why is it that only some of the rules are accurate?"

"Because the creator of the game wasn’t a demigod, I suppose," Nico said. "And Orpheus’ weakness was Suggestion so it does make sense, in a way. Oh! Don’t use lightning bolt when I just drenched your heroes! You’re going to have to wait a turn unless you want to electrocute them."

"I give up," Jason sighed, letting himself fall down on the floor in the Hades cabin. "This is way too complicated."

"No, it’s not," Nico chuckled. "Get up. I learned these rules when I was ten."

Jason groaned. “Fine. What do I get if I win a game?”

"Today?" Nico asked with an amused smile. "Well, if you can manage  _that,_ then I suppose anything is possible.”

Jason grinned. “Anything?” he asked, and Nico found himself blushing.

"I’ve been playing for years. You’re not going to win."

"We’ll see. I have new motivation now," Jason said. "Let’s play."


	7. Percico, One-sided Nipollo - "Are you flirting with me"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: "Are you flirting with me?" Apollo/Nico cuz it's hilarious
> 
> Ended up more of a Percico fic. Might be continued at some point.

“Lord Apollo!” Nico exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing here?” A little politer, he added: “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“What am I doing in a haunted house?” Apollo said, smiling brightly towards him. “Surely you can figure out why I’m here.”

“Did you have some quest for me or something?” Nico frowned, not really being able to figure out any other reason why the sun god would visit a dark, abandoned building in the middle of nowhere that Nico had chosen as his sleeping place for the night.

“Nothing so commonplace,” Apollo laughed. “I bring you the greatest thing in the world.”

Nico raised his eyebrows. “Which is…?”

“Well, me, of course. I’m awesome,” Apollo said. “And also love. The combination is definitely the greatest thing in the world, don’t you think?”

Nico blinked. “I’m…I’m not sure I understand, Lord Apollo,” Nico said hesitatingly. “Why are you here?”

“ _To this dreary place,_

_for the beauty of the dark,_

_have I come searching,”_

Apollo declared, then sighed when Nico just looked blankly at him. “That means you, handsome.”

"W…wait," Nico stammered, feeling his face go red. "Are…are you  _flirting_ with me?”

"Now he gets it! Ten points, Nico," Apollo grinned. "Get ready for a fantastic night out, because I’m planning on making you mine."

He said it with such flare and confidence that Nico almost agreed as an automatic response, but then he shook his head, closing his eyes to block out the radiant, gorgeous man in front of him.

"I don’t think that would be a good idea," he managed, fearing the gods wrath, but Apollo seemed completely unfazed when he opened his eyes.

"Oh, it’s an excellent idea," Apollo said, still grinned. "Even Aphrodite told me it had potential, so you don’t have to worry about it."

Nico stared at him, having a feeling it was going to be a long night.

 ***

If his knocking was too loud and too desperate, he could hardly be blamed for it.

“Percy, please help me,” Nico said as soon as the cabin door opened. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What’s wrong?” Percy asked, looking surprised but ready to rush out and help him fight. Nico wished it was that easy. “Are you in trouble?”

“Yes!” Nico said. “I need your help. I don’t know how to make him stop following me!”

“What are you talking about?” Percy asked, clearly confused. “Who’s following you?”

“You know, if you’re trying to make me jealous, it’s working,” a familiar voice said behind him, and Nico groaned loudly.

“Lord Apollo,  _please_  leave me alone,” Nico practically begged. “I already told you I’m not interested.”

“But you don’t have anyone else, right?” Apollo said. “And I know you would like it if you gave it a try.”

“I don’t want to,” Nico said. “I’m sure there’s plenty of other young men and women who would love for you to…to court them.”

“But nobody as cute as you,” Apollo said. “Come on, Nico. Go out with me already.”

Suddenly Nico felt a pair of arms encircling him from behind, pulling him backwards. His back hit something warm.

“Back off!” Percy ordered, just inches away from Nico’s ear. “Nico’s mine!”

Nico stared at him wide eyed for a second, before realizing what Percy was trying to do. It hurt that he had almost believed it for a moment. The blush that spread on his face was half embarrassment and half shame.

“Aren’t you still dating that Athena girl?” Apollo frowned, apparently not buying it.

Percy shrugged, still holding Nico around the waist. “We have an open relationship,” he said. “And what can I say? I’m greedy.”

“Nico never mentioned you two being a thing.”

“Because we had a fight,” Percy scowled, then looked down at Nico. “Which I’m really sorry about, babe. I didn’t mean what I said.”

After a moment of silence Nico realized they were waiting for him to say something. “It’s okay,” he managed. “And please don’t call me that.”

Percy chuckled. “Sorry, I keep forgetting.”

“Fine,” Apollo sighed. “But I’m not giving up yet. You’ll see I’m a much better choice than the son of Poseidon.”

With that, he turned and disappeared. Percy slowly let go of Nico, taking a step back. Part of Nico was thankful for it, but the other part just wanted to stay in his arms forever.

“So,” Percy said. “Wanna come inside and tell me what that was about?”

“Sure,” Nico said hesitatingly, following him inside. “But I’m not really sure what’s going on, to be honest. He just keeps showing up out of nowhere. I don’t get why he’s so determined to make me go out with him.”

“Well, you’ve grown up surprisingly good looking,” Percy said easily, like it meant nothing, but Nico still blushed deeply. “And you’re a good guy, and a hero after the last two wars. It’s not really that strange.”

“It’s Apollo, the  _sun_  god,” Nico pointed out. “It’s definitely that strange.”

Percy laughed. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “Well, if you want to continue to pretend to be boyfriends to get him off your back then I don’t mind.”

“That wasn’t why I came here. I just figured that you of all people should know how to make gods dislike you,” Nico said.

“Gee, Nico. Tell me what you really think,” Percy said, but he was grinning. “And my way worked, right? Temporarily, at least.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Nico said. “Besides, what would Annabeth say?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Percy asked, sounding a little surprised. “The part about us having an open relationship is true. She and Reyna is having a thing.”

Nico blinked. “How did…?”

“No idea,” Percy laughed. “Anyway, it means I’m free to date, or pretend to date, whoever I want. If you need my help, I’m all yours.”

“Don’t say stuff like that!” Nico said angrily. “And I’m not about to beg for you to pretend to like me. I’ll find some way to handle it myself.”

“Nico, wait!” Percy said, grabbing his arm. “Why are you so upset by this?”

“Why?” Nico repeated hollowly. “Because I haven’t had a peaceful sleep for a week, and then you go and do something like that. I can’t deal with it right now. I’m going to my cabin. Thanks for the help.”

He stalked away without looking back.

 ***

Nico felt violated when he woke up. He had had a really vivid dream about Apollo doing a striptease, and he was 90% sure his own brain hadn’t conjured it. In all likelihood the god had bribed Morpheus into helping him. Not for the first time Nico pondered if maybe he should just  allow Apollo to sleep with him already. At least that would get off his back.

There was a knock on the door to the Hades cabin a little while after Nico had gotten dressed, though his hair was still wet from the shower. He yawned widely as he went to open the door. Percy was standing outside, giving him a surprised look.

“Hey, your hair is even curlier when it’s wet,” Percy grinned. “That’s adorable.”

Nico barely resisted the impulse to slam the door in his face. “What do you want, Percy?”

“To check up on you. You seemed really stressed out yesterday,” Percy said. “And you don’t look so good now, either. Bad dreams?”

“Horrifying,” Nico agreed, then saw someone familiar approach behind Percy’s shoulder. “Oh, no.”

“Good morning, beautiful,” Apollo sang as he approached. “How was your dreams?”

“Apparently not mine,” Nico said. “Please don’t do that, Lord Apollo. I have enough nightmares as it is.”

“Not my best performance, I grant you, but I didn’t think it was that bad,” Apollo said.

“Are you seriously hijacking Nico’s dreams?” Percy asked, sounding angry. “That’s pathetic. He’s not interested, so back off already.”

With that, Percy grabbed Nico’s arm and dragged him into the cabin, slamming the door behind them.

“You need to stop being polite to him, or he’s never going to stop,” Percy said. “Tell him to fuck off next time.”

“I’ve tried,” Nico said tiredly. “In every way possible, and in three different languages. He doesn’t listen.”

“That’s a really douchey thing to do,” Percy said. “My offer to be your fake boyfriend still stands, by the way.”

“I’m not sure it’s going to help,” Nico sighed. “I’m not sure  _anything_  is going to help at this point. I think I’m just egging him on by fighting it.”

“Nico, you’re not seriously considering giving into him, right?” Percy asked, wide eyed.

Nico shook his head. “No, but…I don’t know. It might be the only way to get rid of him.”

“Nico, that’s the fatigue talking,” Percy said sternly. “I’m not going to let him do this to you. Trust me.”

Nico smiled a little at that, despite the painful feeling in his chest. “So you’re really going to be my fake boyfriend, then?”

“Yeah,” Percy said, nodding determinedly. “For however long it takes. God or not, trying to force someone into a relationship this way is disgusting.”

It was tempting but hurtful at the same time. Nico hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe I should just ask someone else.”

“Dude, that actually hurt my feelings,” Percy said. “And it wouldn’t work. We already pretended to be together. I understand if you’d rather have a girl, but…”

Maybe it was because of the lack of sleep, but Nico couldn’t help himself. He bursted out laughing. Percy looked utterly confused, and that only made Nico laugh harder.

“Sorry,” Nico finally managed, in between laughing. “It wasn’t actually funny, it’s just…”

“I get it. You’re exhausted,” Percy said, smiling a little. “And not into girls, huh?”

“I’m not,” Nico confirmed, a bit surprised at how easy it was to admit it, maybe because Percy seemed so okay with it. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Jason’s voice triumphantly telling him telling him “I told you so”.

“Funny, I never realized,” Percy grinned. “So how do we do this?”


	8. Valdangelo -  "I'm lost."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: Valdangelo and "I'm lost". Have a nice day

"We’re lost, aren’t we?" Leo said, and Nico scowled at him.

"No, we’re not. I know exactly where I am," he said, and Leo rolled his eyes.

"Fine,  _I’m_ lost,” he amended. “Where the hell are we?”

Nico hesitated. “New Zealand, some miles northeast of Wellington.”

"Awesome, we can go see where they made  _The Lord of the Rings,_ " Leo said sarcastically. " _Why_  exactly are we in New Zealand? Last I checked, we were going to  _Washington,_ not Wellington.”

"I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened," Nico said, tiredly sinking down to sit on the ground. "Sometimes I swear the shadows have a will of their own, though they usually send me to China."

"Well, at least we’ll have less language trouble here," Leo shrugged, sitting down on the ground beside Nico. "You okay?"

"Just tired," he nodded. "I’m not supposed to travel this far, not when I have luggage."

"Oh, so I’m  _luggage_  now, am I?” Leo exclaimed, acting more affronted than he felt.

"Sorry, but you know what I mean," Nico said. "It’s exhausting. I feel like I’m going to fall asleep."

"So that means we’re stuck here for tonight, huh," Leo said. "So much for that quest."

"The artifacts will still be there tomorrow, and Percy is not supposed to meet us there until the day after anyway," Nico pointed out. "Which is good because I’ll be useless after taking us there tomorrow."

"Also good in case we end up in Warsaw or something instead," Leo said. "Maybe we should take a plane back."

"I don’t have a passport," Nico said. "And this won’t happen again. I was just a little distracted, that’s all."

"By what?" Leo grinned. "Me kissing your neck?"

Nico blushed deeply. Even after three months together, he still blushed. “That might have had something to do with it,” he mumbled. “As long as it doesn’t happen tomorrow, we’re fine.”

"It’s fine, we have all night for that," Leo said, grabbing Nico’s hand to drag him up. "Come on, let’s try to find a hotel or creepy abandoned building to  _not_  sleep in tonight.”

Nico’s face was still red, but he kept a hold of Leo’s hand as he followed.


	9. Percy/Nico/Annabeth - "Can we pretend I didn’t just say that?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: "Can we pretend I didn’t just say that?" with Percicobeth (PercyxNicoxAnnabeth). That is, it you're okay with doing a 3some prompt. ^^
> 
> Also by anonymous: oh my god can you please continue the PercyxNicoxAnnabeth (can we just pretend I didn't say that) because I would pay to read nicos reaction to the proposal
> 
> And by [jinxelement](http://jinxelement.tumblr.com/): jesus, i loved PercyxNicoxAnnabeth and could you pleaaaaaaaaaaase continue??? Please, please, please????????

"He’s turning out really cute," Annabeth said, and Percy nodded absentmindedly, looking over where the son of Hades was helping the younger demigods with sword fighting. Nico was still pale, short and skinny, but he didn’t look like a ghoul anymore. He looked almost healthy, and he had somehow learned to smile again. Percy liked watching him smile. It always made the world seem like a better place.

"Yeah, he is," Percy agreed, and Annabeth gave him a surprised look, causing him to blush and backtrack. "I didn’t mean… Can we just pretend I didn’t say that?"

"Definitely not," she said, sounding curious. "You really think he’s cute?"

"Well, I have eyes," Percy muttered. "But it’s not like that."

"Really? Then how come you’re blushing?" Annabeth asked, grinning at him like his humiliation was funny, then she looked over at Nico again. " _I_ think he’s cute.”

"Should I be jealous?" Percy asked playfully, trying to get things back to normal, but Annabeth just smiled at him.

"Should  _I_ be?” she countered.

Percy frowned. “I told you, it’s not like that,” he said, and she raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. Percy must have been more lost in Nico’s smile than he realized. “You know I wouldn’t cheat on you, ever.”

"I know," Annabeth nodded. "But if we weren’t together, would you go for it?"

Percy turned toward her, horrified. “You’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

Thankfully Annabeth just laughed an smacked his head lightly. “Like I would, Seaweed-brain,” she said. “I was just curious. I think I would, if given a chance.”

"Okay, now I’m definitely jealous," Percy said, though the image of Nico and Annabeth kissing that his inner eye conjured up really wasn’t upsetting so much as intriguing. Annabeth studied him intently, and Percy was glad she couldn’t read thoughts.

"You know," she said thoughtfully. "For the longest time I used to think he had a crush on me."

Percy nodded. “I thought the same thing. He did, didn’t he? Or maybe he still does?”

To his surprise Annabeth shook her head. “No, it doesn’t add up. I think he was just jealous of me.”

"Jealous? Why?" Percy asked, confused. Annabeth just gave him a long, meaningful look, and suddenly it dawned on him.

"No," he said, shocked, watching an oblivious Nico help a Hermes girl with her grip on the sword. "You don’t mean… _Really?”_

It made so much sense. So much that Percy couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized it before. Nico seemed to sense his eyes on him, and looked up to meet his gaze for a moment, raising his eyebrows as if to say “What?”, though there was a faint blush on his cheeks that might just have been a trick of the light. Percy shook his head and turned towards Annabeth again. He wasn’t sure what to say.

"Well?" she asked, smiling sympathetically. "Would you?"

Percy allowed himself to consider it for a moment, consider actually walking up to Nico right now and bringing him into his arms, maybe kiss him. His throat suddenly felt dry at the thought, and someone had shadow travelled butterflies into his stomach. Percy nodded slowly. “Yeah, I would,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter, right? Since were already together.”

"It could," Annabeth said thoughtfully. "We’d have to talk it through with Nico, of course, but a relationship isn’t necessarily just two people."

"Are you serious?" Percy asked, wide eyed. "I mean, I’ve heard about things like that but…You really think it could work?"

"Depends on Nico," Annabeth said. "But if you have feelings for him as well, and you look like you do, I think it would be worth considering."

Percy hesitated. “I love you,” he said, and she smiled at him.

"I love you too," she said. "Now go ask him."

"He’s going to freak out," Percy sighed, getting up from the ground they’d been sitting on and brushing off his pants."But you’re right, wise girl. It’s worth a try."

He walked over to the area, and Nico gave him a curious look as he approached.

"Come to spar?" he asked, but Percy shook his head, feeling nervous.

"Can I talk to you in private?"

___

Nico was deathly quiet for a long time, just staring at him.

"What?" he finally asked, and Percy ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I said: I have feelings for you and I’m wondering if you’d like to be included in mine and Annabeth’s relationship."

Nico narrowed his eyes, starting to look angry. “Are you making fun of me?”

"I’m serious," Percy said. "I like you."

"No, you don’t," Nico insisted. "If you liked me you would have broken up with her, and that’s never going to happen. And I’m a guy!"

"Who cares that you’re a guy?" Percy said. "And no, I’m not going to break up with her. I still love her, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have feelings for you too."

"Yes, it does," Nico said angrily. The grass was starting to die at his feet. "You can’t do this! You can’t just tell me something like this and then immediately take it back. It’s not fair!"

"Nico, calm down. I’m not taking it back!" Percy said, a little alarmed by the Fear Aura rolling off the boy. "Annabeth and I discussed this earlier. We’ll open our relationship to include you if you want us to."

Some of the anger faded from Nico’s face, only to be replaced by confusion. “What does that mean?” he asked. “You want me to…to be your  _mistress_  or something?”

"What are you talking about? Of course not!" Percy said. "I don’t really know how it would work, okay? We’ll have to talk it through, but we’ll figure it out. If you want to."

Nico was quiet for a while. “No,” he finally said, which really wasn’t what Percy wanted to hear.

"No? But…" Percy begun.

"You have a good relationship with Annabeth, and I’m not going to screw that up. I’m not going to screw  _you_  up,” Nico interrupted, more tired than angry now. “I decided that a long time ago.”

He turned around to walk away, but Percy grabbed his arm. “Wait, what are you talking about?” Percy asked. “We  _want_  you included. You wouldn’t be screwing anything up.”

"Really?" Nico asked hollowly. "I screw  _everything_  up. Just…just go back to Annabeth and live happily ever after.”

"Nico," Percy said, wanting to tell him that he wasn’t a screw up, but Nico didn’t look like he’d believe him. Instead Percy closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Nico’s. The boy went completely rigid in his arms, but Percy held on for a while, wanting him to realize that he was serious about this.

"I like you," Percy said quietly as he pulled back. "I’ll give you some time to think about this, okay? Please at least consider it."

With that, he took a step back. Nico’s stunned paralysis lasted another second before he promptly turned around and more or less ran away towards the cabins.

Percy didn’t follow him.

___

When Percy returned it was immediately apparent that it hadn’t gone well.

"What did he say?" Annabeth asked, reaching out to take Percy’s hand as he sank down beside her with a sigh.

"He thinks it’s impossible to like two people at once, and he thinks he’d screw everything up," Percy said bitterly. "I told him I’ll give him some time to think about it."

"Sounds like his mind’s made up," Annabeth said regretfully. "Do you want me to go talk to him?"

Percy hesitated. “Maybe,” he said. “And, um, I kinda kissed him. Is that okay?”

Annabeth gave herself a moment to feel before answering. “Yes, it’s okay,” she said honestly. “That’s where we’re going with this, right?”

"I know, but it’s still a little strange," Percy sighed.

"We’ll figure it out," Annabeth assured him, reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Later that evening Annabeth knocked on the door to the Hades cabin, hoping that Nico hadn’t fled camp. At first there was no answer, then the door slowly opened, revealing a tired-looking son of Hades.

"Hey," Annabeth said. "Can I talk to you?"

Nico looked extremely uncomfortable, but he nodded and opened the door wider to let her in. Annabeth looked around, realizing she’d never been inside the cabin before. It wasn’t nearly as dark and dreary as she’s expected. In fact, the dark wood and the warm red fabrics created a pretty cozy atmosphere. There wasn’t much that said “underworld” at all, except the complete lack of windows.

"Is this about Percy?" Nico asked quietly. "I swear, I’m not trying to come between you two."

Annabeth frowned. “Nobody’s accusing you of that, Nico,” she said sternly. “Percy and I talked it through before he came to you. We agreed on this.”

"How can you be okay with this?" Nico asked, looking confused and a little bit frightened. "I mean, Percy, he…" he trailed off, blushing violently.

"Kissed you?" Annabeth smiled. "Yes, he told me. And I’m okay with it because I know his feelings for you doesn’t diminish his feelings for me. Or the other way around, for that matter."

"But, still…" Nico said uncertainly. "You and him are so good together. Why would you risk that?"

"We’re not risking our relationship by including you, you know," Annabeth pointed out. "Sure things will be different and we’ll need to talk a lot more than we usually do, but I think it could be good."

Nico didn’t answer.

"We’re not going to force you into anything. I realize this probably goes against everything you were taught when you grew up, but there’s a lot of precedent for it especially among Greek stories. I could point out the specific ones, but I think you know them already," Annabeth said gently. "So take some time to think it through. I just wanted you to know I would want you included."

With that, she left the cabin, hoping Nico would come around.

***

Nico kept pondering the whole thing for three days. At first he’d almost thought they were playing a cruel joke on him, but he realized pretty quickly that neither of them would do that. They were serious, which became abundantly clear after Annabeth came to talk to him.

Nico spent his time wandering around his cabin, almost having two panic attacks in the process. He also talked to some ghosts to ask for advice. None of the Greeks he talked to were surprised by the proposal, meaning Annabeth had been right. Still, that didn’t make the whole thing any less confusing.

Finally, he made a decision. His hands were shaking as he knocked on the door to the Poseidon cabin late in the evening three days after Percy had first kissed him. The thought made his cheeks grow hot as Percy opened the door.

"Hey," Percy smiled, stepping aside to let him in. "I was beginning to think you’d ran away."

"I considered it," Nico mumbled. "I just came to give you my answer. I mean, if you’re still waiting for it."

"Of course I am," Percy said, actually looking nervous. "Well?"

"I’m…" Nico begun uncertainly, feeling his throat getting dry. "I’m not sure if it’s going to work, but I’d like to try. If you still want to."

"I definitely want to," Percy said, giving Nico a bright happy smile, having no idea what that smile did to him. Then again, he didn’t have to suffer for long before Percy walked over to him and pressed their lips together.

Nico tried not to freeze up again, despite really having no idea what to do. He made an attempt to kiss back, but he was pretty sure it was the clumsiest kiss Percy had ever experienced. Amazingly enough the son of Poseidon didn’t seem bothered about it. Instead Nico could feel his hands stroking his hair, his cheek, his back. It was an incredible feeling.

The sound of the door opening made Nico pull away with a start. Annabeth stood in the doorway, looking surprised to see him. Then she smiled widely.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said. "I’m glad you decided to say yes, Nico."

Nico could only nod, not trusting himself to speak. He really wasn’t sure what to say. Percy grinned as he put an arm around Nico’s shoulder.

"Annabeth sleeps here most nights," he said, as if to explain her sudden appearance. "Do you want to join us?"

Nico could feel his cheeks burning. “Um, I…I don’t think,” he stammered, but Annabeth gave him a comforting smile.

"He really means just sleeping," she assured him. "It helps against the nightmares. I’m sure you have them too."

She didn’t need to explain further. Nico had been chased by nightmares since Bianca died, but after Tartarus it had almost become a habit to wake up screaming. Having somebody there beside him while he slept…it was incredibly tempting.

"We would feel better knowing you were okay, as well," Percy said, and Nico crumbled. He nodded slowly.

They moved the mattresses from the beds to the floor. Percy lay down in the middle with Annabeth on his right side and gestured for Nico to join them. Nico hesitantly lay down beside Percy, about a foot away from him.

"You can come closer if you want to, you know," Percy said, sounding a bit disappointed. Annabeth was already cuddled up to him from the other side, though, and Nico didn’t want to intrude.

"I’m fine," he said, and Percy sighed.

"At least give me your hand," he said, and Nico obeyed. Percy holding his hand kinda made him blush, but it was strangely comfortable. For the first time Nico felt he wasn’t completely alone, and he really liked the feeling. When he closed his eyes, he felt at peace.

A scream woke him up a few hours later. He sat up, confused by the fact that he felt fine, until he realized it hadn’t been his own voice.

Percy was sitting up beside him, breathing heavily and looking into the distance at something only he could see. He was clutching Nico’s hand in a painful grip, but didn’t seem aware of it. Annabeth was on his other side, talking softly to him, apparently used to handling him after nightmares. Nico wasn’t sure he should interfere, so he just remained where he was, letting Percy hold on to him.

Eventually Percy’s breathing became steady again, and he collapsed against Annabeth, seemingly okay again. Despite Percy still holding his hand, less tightly now, Nico was starting to feel like he was intruding. He tried to slip out of Percy’s grip unnoticed and retreat into the shadows.

"Don’t you dare," Annabeth said sternly before he had even managed to start backing away. She was looking straight at him over Percy’s shoulder, and Percy turned to look at him as well.

"I was just…" Nico tried. "I didn’t want to get in the way."

"You’re not in the way. Come here," Percy said, looking like a kicked puppy, and when he pulled him close Nico couldn’t help but follow. He found himself a part of a big hug, with Percy’s arm around his waist and Annabeth’s around his shoulder. He wasn’t really sure where to put his own hands and awkwardly settled for their backs.

After a while, Percy sighed. “I’m fine now. Let’s go back to sleep.”

With that, he let himself fall back down on the bed. Annabeth seemed to have expected it and moved away, Percy brought Nico down with him to crash-land on his chest with a yelp. Both of them chuckled at him.

"Sorry, should have warned you. He does that," Annabeth smiled as she joined Percy on his right side again, cuddled up with a head on his arm. Nico tried to untangle himself and keep some distance again, but Percy didn’t let him. In the end he mirrored Annabeth’s position, pressed against Percy with his hand gently stroking Nico’s hair.

"This is nice," Percy mumbled, smiling comfortably. Nico didn’t say it out loud, but he agreed. It really was nice, being so close to the person he’d loved from a distance for so many years. Still, it was strange as well. He could feel the warmth of Percy’s skin against his, feel his finger’s soothingly move through his hair even after his breathing evened out. Nico wondered if he was doing the same to Annabeth on the other side, but he didn’t want to move enough to check. He wondered if it really mattered.


	10. Jasico - "Where the fuck did that clown come from?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by [sincerelytheinsincere](http://sincerelytheinsincere.tumblr.com/): "Where the fuck did that clown come from?" Jasico please? :D

Unsurprisingly, Nico was fuming when he emerged from fallen popcorn stand. He angrily swiped away some popcorn from his jacket as he walked over to Jason. “ _Why_  were there Scytian Dracanae at a country fair?” he asked furiously. “It makes _no_  sense. And where the  _fuck_  did that clown come from?”

"He’s gone now," Jason said, brushing some unpopped corn off Nico’s shoulders. "I don’t even know  _what_ he was. For all we know it might have been another demigod.

"Well, if I see him again, I’ll send him down to the underworld to see just how amused my father is by exploding balloon-animals," Nico said. "Let’s get out of here before we get arrested."

"Agreed," Jason said, taking a firm hold of Nico’s arm as the boy brought them back to camp, and straight into the Hades cabin. Nico shook his arm off and moved away from him to throw off his jacket, muttering about corn and the smell of oil.

"I’m sorry about this," Jason said. "I shouldn’t have brought you there."

Nico sighed, clearly frustrated as he dragged a hand trough his hair. “It’s not your fault,” he said. “I promised you a date, and the fair seemed like a good idea.”

"Still, I’m sorry," Jason said, and Nico gave him a small smile, hardly more than a slight tug upwards on his lips.

"It’s okay," he said. "And I’m sorry as well. I know how much you looked forward to this, that’s why I got so angry."

Jason couldn’t deny that. It was supposed to have been their first proper date, after all.

"It’s ironic, isn’t it?" Nico continued. "All those times we went out as friends and nothing happened, but the minute we actually call it a date, we get attacked by snake people. And a  _clown!_ ”

Jason frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts about this,” he said worriedly, and Nico rolled his eyes.

"Of course not," he said, and Jason smiled, walking over to him to give him a deep kiss. Nico was still a little awkward about it, but he responded enthusiastically.

"We can still spend the day together and call it a date, you know," Nico murmured as they parted. "Let me just wash off the smell of popcorn."

"I don’t mind it," Jason said, moving to kiss his eyelid. "But if it makes you more comfortable, then go ahead. I’ll wait."

"In a minute," Nico said, resting his head on Jason’s shoulder. Jason smiled, gently stroking his head.

Maybe it would turn out to be a good day, after all.


	11. Jasico - "Can I tell you a secret?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: Jasico. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" Nico asked, his gaze glassy and unfocused.

"Sure," Jason said, gently taking the bottle away from him. "But I think you’ve had enough."

He expected Nico to protest, but he just nodded obediently, sitting up straighter on Jason’s couch. Well, considering how many times Nico had spent the night on that couch it was pretty much Nico’s couch by now.

"So what’s the secret?" Jason asked. Nico gave him a small, slightly drunken smile.

"I’m not in love with Percy anymore."

Jason blinked. He really hadn’t expected that.

"That’s good, right?" Jason said carefully. "So is this celebrating?" He pointed to the half-empty bottle Nico had brought with him to Jason’s apartment.

"No," Nico said, looking up at the ceiling. "This is me getting drunk to forget the other part of that secret."

"Which is?" Jason asked, concerned.

Nico sighed. “I’ve fallen for someone just as impossible,” he told the ceiling, and there was a sudden pain in Jason’s chest. He would have liked to believe it was just sympathy, but it had been a while since he could convince himself of that.

"I’m sorry," he said, and Nico nodded absently.

"Not your fault," he said, then frowned. "Kinda your fault."

"Meaning?" Jason asked, but Nico shook his head.

"Forget it," he said. "Getting drunk was a bad idea."

"I agree, but I’m glad you came here rather than be alone somewhere," Jason said. "It’s getting late. You should go to sleep."

Nico nodded tiredly? “Can I stay?” he asked, for some reason sounding uncertain. Jason smiled and put an arm around his shoulder.

"As always," Jason said, a little surprised when Nico didn’t push him away. Instead he moved closer and let his head fall down on Jason’s shoulder.

"Thank you," he mumbled sleepily. "I love you."

Jason started ad him, wide eyed. Had he just said…?

"Nico?" Jason asked, but Nico was already asleep, breathing deeply and regularly against Jason’s neck. Jason smiled down at him, feeling hopeful.

They would have a lot to talk about in the morning.


	12. Jasico - "That's a good look for you."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by [karminkarma99](http://karminkarma99.tumblr.com/):"That's a good look for you." Jasico

"There’s a serious lack of black shirts in this camp. I hate orange," Nico muttered, gesturing towards his borrowed clothes. The Camp Half-Blood t-shirt was admittedly pretty comfortable, but the faded blue pair of old jeans someone must have left behind kept threatening to  ride down his ass, despite being pretty tight. Luckily he had a pair of pajama pants in the cabin.

"It’s still nice to see you wearing colors," Jason said, apparently feeling the need to hold the door open for him like he was an invalid. Or a lady. "You should wear that t-shirt more often."

"If you’re trying to make me stay by saying the shirt fits me then you’ve really run out of ideas," Nico said irritatedly. "We’ve had this conversation. I’m staying the night, and that’s it."

Jason frowned. “I know. But I don’t like that you’re out there alone,” he said. “It was way too close this time. A few inches to the right and your throat would have been cut.”

"I’m fine," Nico insisted. "Look, can we not do this again? I’m tired."

Jason looked like he wanted to argue, but Nico must have looked as bad as he felt because in the end Jason just sighed. “Fine. But let me stay the night at least. You’re injured and shouldn’t be alone right now.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I’m in the middle of camp, surrounded by demigods and protective wards and whatnot. Nothing’s going to attack me in here. I’m perfectly safe.”

"I wasn’t talking about monsters," Jason said sternly. Nico knew that, of course, but it had been worth a try.

"Fine. Stay if you want," Nico said, trying to sound dismissive. "I’m heading to bed."

He had some trouble changing pants because of the pain from his injured shoulder. If Nico hadn’t opted to change in the bathroom Jason would probably have offered to help. He still knocked on the door when Nico was taking too long.

"You alright in there?" Jason asked, and Nico opened the door, vaguely hoping to hit him in the face with it. He almost succeeded.

"What, you don’t even trust me to be alone in the bathroom anymore?" Nico said as he walked past him to get to his bed. Jason followed behind him.

"Nico, what’s wrong?" he asked, looking concerned rather than angry. "You’ve been really aggressive all day."

"I got a sword in my shoulder. Forgive me for not being too happy about it," Nico muttered as he sat down on the bed. Jason just looked more concerned, so Nico sighed. "Sorry. I’m just exhausted."

"It’s okay," Jason said hesitatingly, walking over to one of the other beds like he usually did. Nico sighed again. They both knew he wouldn’t stay in that bed for long, so what was the point really?

"I’m tired of this game," Nico said. "If you’re going to stay, come here."

Jason looked up at him, clearly surprised. “Are you sure?”

"I’m going to have nightmares and wake you up anyway," Nico said. "And then you’re going to come over and try to comfort me and I’ll tell you to leave and you’ll stay anyway and I’ll let you because it helps. Let’s just skip that part tonight."

Jason gave him a small smile, then walked over to him, hesitating for a second before laying down beside Nico on the bed, careful not to hurt his injured shoulder as he put his arms around him. Strange as it was, Nico could feel some of the tension leaving him as Jason settled down around him.

"You’re right, it’s better this way," Jason mumbled against Nico’s head. "You know, if you stayed here it could always be like this."

That was probably the best sales pitch Nico’d ever heard. Still, he doubted Jason meant it the way Nico kinda wanted him to mean it.

"Let’s just sleep," he said instead of answering. He felt Jason nod, and then pull back enough to kiss Nico’s forehead.

"Goodnight, Nico" Jason said, then resumed his earlier position like it meant nothing. Maybe it didn’t.

But maybe it did.

Nico closed his eyes, nuzzling a little closer. He had time to figure it out later. 


	13. Percico: "Why did you think that this was a good idea?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: "Why did you think that this was a good idea?" percico :)

"Why did you think this was a good idea?" Nico asked, giving Percy a stern glare even as they ran.

"Hey, it almost worked," Percy defended himself. "And you decided to come with me, so you’re just as guilty."

"The only reason I came was so I could get you out of here when your plan failed," Nico said, grabbing his arm as they ran. "Shadows. To the left."

They came out beneath the huge statue of Athena at Half-Blood Hill. Percy didn’t particularly like the statue. He’d had a feeling it had been laughing at him ever since Annabeth broke up with him a few months ago.

Percy sank down on the ground, trying to catch his breath. “So we need a new plan. Any ideas?”

Nico made a disgruntled face as he sat down beside him, leaning against the foot of the statue. “Shower, then sleep,” he said. “We can’t do anything about those monsters now, anyway. I’ll sneak in tomorrow night when they’re less alert.”

Percy frowned. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

"Don’t worry, I won’t be stupid enough to waltz right in and tell them I want to join their army," Nico said rolling his eyes. "Not again, anyway. I’ll just watch from the shadows and see what I can find out."

"I still don’t like you going in alone," Percy muttered.

"I can take care of myself," Nico said, then gave Percy a worried look. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

Percy shrugged. “I’m good,” he said. “I’m starting to think she made the right decision for us.”

Nico frowned. “Are you sure? I mean, you were…”

He trailed off, but Percy understood what he meant. After Annabeth broke up with him he had been a complete mess for days. His friends had done their best to cheer him up, but surprisingly enough Nico had been the most helpful, showing up from nowhere and dragging Percy and sometimes Jason with him on quests and missions at odd times. He rarely actually encouraged Percy to talk about his feelings, though, just made sure to keep him busy and protected his back when he made stupid decisions. It was strange, really. Percy had thought Nico hated him, but now they were starting to be really good friends.

"I know, but I’m fine now. Crazy what fighting for your life a couple of times can do, huh?" Percy smiled.

Nico gave him a wry smile back. “I guess,” he said, getting on his feet and brushing off his pants. “I’m going to take that shower. See you later.”

"Yeah," Percy said. "Hey, Nico?"

Nico stopped walking and looked around at him. “What is it?”

"Um, thanks. You know, for everything," Percy said. "I’ve really appreciated it."

For some reason Nico turned slightly red at that, muttering something that was probably “you’re welcome” as he turned to walk away. Percy smiled as he watched him go, feeling a surge of affection running through him.

It was a bit too early to say for sure, but yeah. Breaking up really might have been the right decision.

Still smiling, Percy got up and followed Nico into camp.


	14. Jasico - "Hey, have you seen the…? Oh.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: "Hey, have you seen the…? Oh.” Jasico please!!

Going on quests with Nico had certain perks. For one thing, he could get them pretty much anywhere in a heartbeat, provided Jason survived the nausea that usually followed. Nico was also extremely good at finding accommodation for the night, meaning they seldom had to sleep outside. Not that Jason usually minded the open air, but when it was raining he preferred having a roof over is head.

They were currently staying in an abandoned farm. Well, not exactly abandoned considering the souls of the former owners were still around, chasing away anyone who tried to move in. They didn’t bother him or Nico,  even though Jason admittedly found the whole thing pretty creepy. Still, considering the downpour outside it could have been worse.

The kitchen had a gas stove, so they even managed to get a hot meal for the evening. Nico disappeared somewhere after eating, and Jason spent some time exploring the house, hoping he wasn’t committing some sort of undead faux pas. Eventually he got bored of it. The electricity in the house was still on, so Jason figured the TV would work. However, he couldn’t find the remote anywhere.

"Sorry, could you show me where the remote is?" Jason asked out loud, figuring one of the ghosts might hear him, but the room was eerily still. Shrugging he went upstairs to the bedroom they had left their stuff in, looking for Nico.

"Hey, have you seen the…? Oh."

Jason hesitated in the doorway, looking at the scene in front of him. Nico was lying on the bed, sound asleep. He looked so peaceful Jason really didn’t want to wake him up. Instead he smiled slightly as he quietly closed the door behind him and walked back to the living room. He still couldn’t find the remote, but there were some comics laying around that presumably belonged to the dead kid in the house.

"I hope you don’t mind if I read these. I promise I won’t damage them," Jason said out loud. Again there was no answer, but Jason picked one of them up anyway and started reading. He was halfway through the issue when he heard a noise from upstairs. At first he thought it was the ghosts, but then he heard a familiar scream and rushed back to the bedroom.

Nico was still on the bed, but he was tossing around violently with an expression of pure terror on his face. However, his eyes were still closed, meaning he was still asleep. Jason hurried over to him.

"It’s okay, Nico. It’s just a dream. Wake up," Jason urged, attempting to gently shake the boy awake. Nico stilled for a moment, opening his eyes wide, then he moved so fast Jason didn’t realize what was happening until he fell backwards, landing roughly on the floor. His ears were ringing and there was a taste of iron in his mouth. Presumably his nose had started bleeding, but Jason wasn’t really sure. He was trying to calm down every instinct that were screaming at him to stand up and fight, but Nico wasn’t attacking anymore. He had frozen on the bed, staring at Jason in alarm.

"Jason?" he asked, sounding shaken. Jason nodded, and Nico moved away from the bed to kneel beside him with an expression of panic on his face.

"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that," Nico said desperately,  assessing the damage. "I have some ambrosia in my bag, I’ll go get…"

"Nico," Jason interrupted, grabbing his arm before he could move away. "Are  _you_ okay? You were screaming in your sleep.”

Nico actually looked embarrassed at that. “It happens,” he said dismissively. “Let go. I’ll go get you ambrosia. And some tissues.”

Jason reluctantly let go, mostly because the blood from his nose was starting to drip down on his shirt. At least his ears wasn’t ringing anymore.

"You pack a mean swing," Jason smiled when Nico came back, still looking distressed.

"I’m sorry," he said again. "It was a reflex. I didn’t mean to hit you," he said, sitting down beside Jason again. He handed him the ambrosia, then proceeded to clean the blood away with a gentleness Jason hadn’t really known he possessed.

"It’s okay, Nico. Really," Jason said, trying to sound reassuring, but Nico shook his head.

"It’s not. I think I broke your nose," he said, and it certainly felt like he was right.

"It’s not the first time. I’ll be fine," Jason said. The ambrosia had managed to stop the bleeding, at least. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Nico asked, still drying blood away from Jason’s face, frowning while he did it. Jason took a hold of his arm to make him stop.

"Nico, you were screaming and looked terrified," Jason said. "How often do you have nightmares like that?"

"Every now and then," Nico said, avoiding Jason’s eyes.

"Nico," Jason said sternly, and the boy sighed.

"Fine. Most nights," he told the floor. "Which is why I don’t like sleeping much."

"Understandable," Jason nodded, then he realized something. "Wait, we’ve spent nights together on quests before, and this has never happened. Did you just not sleep at all?"

Nico kept looking down at the floor, not saying anything, which was answer enough. Jason scowled.

"Nico, that’s not healthy," he said. "Have you talked to someone from the Hypnos cabin about this?"

"I tried. Clovis still starts screaming whenever he sees me," Nico said tiredly. "They can’t help me."

"You shouldn’t have to deal with something like this alone," Jason said, and Nico rolled his eyes.

"This isn’t something you can help me with, Jason," he said, clearly reading his thoughts. "That should be pretty clear to you after I broke your nose."

"It’s just a nose," Jason said dismissively. "I promise I’ll find a way to help you."

Nico gave him a sad smile, clapping his shoulder a few times as he stood up again. “Go wash your face,” he said, then disappeared out the room with a large number of bloody tissues in his hands.

Jason looked after him, then sighed. He wasn’t sure what he could do, but he was determined to try anything. Maybe it would help if they slept close together?

Jason smiled as he pictured Nico’s reaction to that suggestion, but there was probably no harm in asking. Jason’s nose was already broken, after all.

Still smiling, Jason got up to wash the blood off his face.


	15. Nico - Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supposed to be a prompt-fulfillment but ended up not fitting the prompt at all, so now it’s just a quick drabble that may or may not be going somewhere.

Nico was getting tired of glaring at people.

The whole thing had been Reyna’s idea. After bringing the statue to Camp Half-Blood they had managed to build a temporary peace between the Romans and Greeks just in time to fight the onslaught of monsters from Gaea’s army. However, when the battle was won it was time to negotiate a real treaty, and as the only “neutral party” the role of mediator naturally fell on him.

A number of representatives from both camps had gathered in a secluded tent at Half-Blood Hill. The  meeting had already been going on for two hours but no agreement had been reached. Nico hadn’t really participated much, his job was mostly just to make sure all the arguing didn’t result in another war. As per Reyna’s advice, Nico handled it by glaring really hard, fear-powers on maximum, at anyone who was starting to become loud and unreasonable. Clarisse and Octavian, mostly. So far it had worked, but they weren’t really making any progress in the negotiations. There were too many demands for territory and apologies and whatnot, and Nico was getting really tired of it. He was starting to wonder if it would be rude of him to start massaging his aching temples when a guy he didn’t know entered the tent.

"I’m sorry to disturb, but I just wanted to tell you that the A _rgo II_  is back,” he said. Nico was on his feet and halfway to the door before a voice stopped him.

"We’re still in an important meeting here. A true mediator wouldn’t leave," Octavian said, and Nico scoffed.

"This isn’t a peace negotiation, this is a bunch of kids demanding a bigger slice of the cake," he said. "Look, the whole thing is ridiculous. You helped saved the world together, and now you want to divide it and make sure you get the bigger slice, justifying it by offences so old not even the dead remember what really happened. I couldn’t care less a Greek demigod killed a Roman in 1679 or the other way around in 1874. The living are more important, and I want to see my sister."

The meeting turned silent, then Reyna stood up, a hit of a smile playing at the edges of her mouth. “We’re all curious to hear about the  _Argo II’s_ success. I propose we postpone the meeting until the evening.”

"I second that notion," Rachel Dare said on the other side, and there where people nodding all around. Nico decided it was enough, and quickly exited the tent.

He immediately spotted the  _Argo II_ , anchored right above camp. Beneath it, a large mass of people presumably surrounded the crew. Nico had some trouble getting through.

"Nico!" Hazel shouted over the crowed, and Nico barely had time to catch a glimpse of her running towards him before he found himself engulfed in a hug. He gladly returned it. He had known she was alive, of course, but seeing her in one piece was still a huge relief.

"I was so worried about you," Hazel said into his shoulder before pulling back enough to look at him. There were tears in her eyes. "How did you manage to get the statue over the ocean?"

"Wasn’t easy. I was out for two days after the jump," Nico said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Still, I think you had it worse. What happened?"

"A lot. It’s a long story," Hazel smiled. "But we’re all okay. Look!"

She gestured behind her, and Nico could see she was right. All seven of them were alive and well, if a little bruised and burned. Nico wasn’t surprised. If any of them had died, he would have known.

As Hazel took a step back from him, Jason approached, smiling widely.

"Good to see you, man. I wasn’t sure you’d be here," he said, and Nico made a face at him, catching the meaning behind the sentence. Like he’d had any time at all to think about leaving in the madness that followed the end of the war.

"Reyna is forcing me to suffer through the peace negotiations," he said as an answer. "You should go talk to her. She could use some support."

"I’m not praetor anymore, but sure," Jason smiled. Nico led them through the mass of people to were Reyna was waiting, and Jason and Frank walked off with her while Percy and Annabeth went to look for Rachel. Nico just hoped the additional people wouldn’t make the negotiations worse.

"It’ll be fine," Hazel told him, reaching for his hand. "Come on, tell me about your journey."

The negotiations continued later in the evening, but it was immediately pretty clear that the leaders of the camps had already reached an understanding during the recess. There were talks of further negotiations later on to increase cooperation between camps, but essentially the whole thing ended in a non-aggression-pact with no further terms or demands.

"That was unexpected," Nico commented as he walked out of the tent. Jason, who was walking beside him laughed.

"I guess they took your little speech to heart," he said. "Reyna told me about it. She said you made them feel like misbehaving little kids."

Nico blushed, embarrassed. “They were arguing about really irrelevant things and I just wanted to see Hazel,” he muttered.

"Still, you must have been really convincing. I’m glad you were here to take care of it," Jason grinned, clapping his back before turning serious again. "You  _are_ staying, aren’t you?”

Nico thought about it for a second, then shook his head. “No, I’m not staying here. I don’t belong here,” he said. Jason looked like he was going to argue so Nico quickly continued: “But I’m not going to just disappear either. I couldn’t do that to Hazel.”

Jason sighed, but nodded. “That’s good, at least,” he said. “But you’re wrong about not belonging here. I mean, I’m Roman and they accepted me with open arms, even after learning who I was. They’d accept you as well.”

"Being Roman and being the son of Hades are two very different things," Nico said irritatedly, gesturing to the way the other campers were still walking in circles around him rather than getting near.

"I suppose," Jason said with a sigh. "I just don’t think it’s fair that you have to be on your own."

Nico shrugged. “I can handle it.”

"But you shouldn’t have to," Jason said sternly, grabbing Nico’s arm and bringing him around to face him. Nico immediately snapped his arm back.

"Don’t touch me!"

"Okay, I won’t," Jason said with a frown, holding his arms up as to emphasis his words. "But Nico, you’re as much a hero as the rest of us. It’s not fair that you get no recognition for what you’ve done."

"I don’t need recognition," Nico said. "I was never meant to be a hero."

"But you are," Jason said. "Without you resurrecting Hazel, and leading us to the doors, and bringing the statue here we never would have stood a chance against Gaea!"

"Look, Jason, I appreciate it," Nico said tiredly. "But it doesn’t matter. I’m still leaving."

Jason nodded resignedly. “Fine. Just promise me that if at any time you need help, you’ll come ask for it, okay? No more dangerous solo missions.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I fight better alone.”

"Liar. I’ve see you fight," Jason said. "Just promise me, okay?"

Jason was giving him an almost begging look, like he actually gave a damn, and Nico crumbled. “Fine, I promise.”

Jason smiled happily towards him. “Good. Now let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving.”

Nico followed him to the dining pavilion, wondering if it was actually okay for him to believe that Jason truly was his friend.


	16. Jasico - "I think you missed your calling" etc.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A combination of three prompts:
> 
> persassyjacks: "I think you missed your calling"  
> ironmanpanics: "You want me to do what?"  
> anonymous: "Last time I ask you for a favor!"

The sound of coughing woke Jason up. It was pretty strange, considering he lived alone in a small two-room apartment and monsters usually didn’t announce their presence like that, so he cautiously got up from the bed and walked into the living room. There was a dark figure sitting on his couch, looking up at him as he entered. Jason recognized him immediately.

"Hey," Nico said, his voice sounding rough. "I kinda need to ask a big favor."

"Are you okay?" Jason asked worriedly, looking him over. He was still pale, but his cheeks and nose were red and his eyes were glassy, and he was interrupted by a coughing fit before answering.

"I caught a cold," Nico said. "And most haunted houses don’t have any heating, so I was wondering if I could stay for a few days." He looked really uncertain.

"Sure," Jason said, not bothering to ask why he didn’t go to camp. "Let me get you some blankets. Have you taken some sort of medicine yet?"

Nico shook his head, smiling slightly. “No. And you don’t need to play nursemaid. I just need to rest for a while.”

"If you say so," Jason said uncertainly, then proceeded to get some extra blankets and a pillow and making a pretty decent bed out of the couch.

"Thank you," Nico said as he lay down. "Now go back to sleep. I’ll be fine."

"Don’t hesitate to wake me up if you need something, okay?" Jason said, and he thought he could see Nico rolling his eyes just above the edge of the blanket.

"Goodnight, Jason," Nico said, and Jason reluctantly returned to his bedroom. He could hear Nico coughing on the other side of the door, but at least the boy was warm and safe now. If he wasn’t better by morning Jason would force some ambrosia and soup down his throat.

As it turned out, Nico’s cold was actually worse in the morning. Jason decided skip his lectures and stay at home to take care of Nico instead, something the patient in question didn’t necessarily appreciate.

"You’re studying history, right?" Nico said, sitting up on the couch, covered in blankets and with a bowl of soup in his lap. "I think you missed your calling. You should have become a nurse. Or a babysitter."

Jason rolled his eyes. “I’m just trying to take care of you.”

"I noticed," Nico said dryly, then coughed a few times before continuing. "Really though, you don’t have to do this. I don’t want to be any trouble. You should go to class."

"I haven’t missed a class since I enrolled. I can afford to miss one or two," Jason smiled. "Besides, I haven’t seen you in a while. I figured I’d take the chance to spend some time with you."

"Right, because I’m such excellent company right now," Nico scoffed.

"Hey, I’ll take what I can get. You haven’t been around much."

"I’m not the one who moved into the middle of nowhere to go to university," Nico pointed out, and Jason laughed.

"Fair enough," he said. "Still, you promised you’d visit."

"I didn’t want to bother you," Nico muttered, taking a spoonful of soup with a sour expression. "Though ended up doing it anyway."

"Nico, we’re friends. You’re not bothering me," Jason said sternly. Nico just looked down into his soup, not answering.

"Hey," Jason asked worriedly. "Did something happen?"

Nico shook his head. “No. Everything’s the same.”

Which wasn’t really a good thing, Jason already knew that. He gently squeezed Nico’s shoulder, not sure what other comfort he could offer.

"It’s okay. I’m fine," Nico said, then started coughing so hard he almost spilled the soup. "Well, apart from the cold."

"It’ll get better," Jason promised. "Want to watch a movie?"

Nico nodded, clearly thankful for the subject change.

***

"I think I should get going," Nico said a few days later when his cold had subsided. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"Anytime," Jason smiled, honestly sad that Nico was leaving. "Where are you going to stay now?"

Nico looked a bit uncomfortable. “The underworld for a few days, I think. I’ll figure something out after that.”

Jason frowned. “Actually…” he said slowly, getting a flash of inspiration. “You kinda owe me a favor, right?”

"Sure," Nico said, looking a little surprised. "Is there something you want me to do for you?"

"There is," Jason nodded. "I want you to stay with me."

Nico blinked. “You want me to do what?”

"Stay with me," Jason repeated. "Come on, it’s boring living alone. And you said you owe me one. You are going to repay me, right?"

"You’re guilt-tripping me into staying here?" Nico asked in disbelief. "I swear, this is the last time I ask you for a favor! **"** He seemed more amused than angry, and Jason grinned.

"That’s a yes, then?"

"Fine, I’ll stay for a little while longer," he said. "But I still need to go see my father in a few days."

"It’s okay, just come back here when you’re done," Jason said, reaching out to gently ruffle Nico’s hair. "It’s winter, and you shouldn’t sleep in abandoned buildings anyway. I prefer you here."

"Mother hen," Nico accused him without force. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"Well, maybe I can’t," Jason said with a smile. "Living apart from everyone else is a lot more lonely and boring than I thought. I’m not just asking you to stay for your sake, you know."

"Good," Nico said. "So can I eat something that isn’t soup tonight?"

Jason laughed. “We could order pizza. Or we could go grocery shopping and try to make something.”

"Sounds fun," Nico agreed. "Let’s go."


	17. Percico - Birthday Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: As a suggestion for the sweet Percico ne-shot, maybe Nico doing is best to bake Percy a blue cake with Sally? He could succeed or fail, be with Percy already or maybe get together with him b/c of this... up to you. I just really wanna see Nico bake a cake.

Nico glared at the flour, not really sure what he had done to deserve this.

It was Percy’s birthday, and he had planned on just showing up briefly to hand over his gift, staying for maybe ten minutes, tops. Instead he had ended up in Percy’s mother’s kitchen baking a birthday cake. A  _blue_  birthday cake.

"How is it going?" Percy asked, daring to stick his head into the kitchen. Nico glared at him.

"Why can’t we just go buy a cake?” he asked. “I’m sure I could find a blue one somewhere.”

"It wouldn’t be the same," Percy pouted. "And mum isn’t here so she can’t make me one."

"So you said. But why me? Where’s Annabeth?" Nico asked, and Percy shrugged uncomfortably.

"Things are still a bit weird between us after the breakup," he said. "Besides, her classes start like tomorrow or something."

"What about the others?" Nico asked. "Why aren’t they here?"

"Because I kinda wanted it to be just me, mum and Paul this year," Percy said. "Instead I’m spending my birthday alone. Or I would have if you hadn’t showed up." He smiled and reached out to ruffle Nico’s hair. Nico tried to glare at him, but Percy didn’t touch him very often and the light contact made him a little flustered.

"How come your mother isn’t here?" Nico asked.

"They are on vacation, and were supposed to be back this morning, but apparently there’s a dangerous storm going on in Spain. No airplanes can leave," Percy said. "I asked the gods to knock it off, but so far there’s been no change."

Nico nodded. “Do you want me to go get them?”

Percy’s eyes went wide for a second, then he dejectedly shook his head. “That would get them in trouble with the authorities,” he said.

"I could bring them back there after your birthday. Or I could take you there," Nico said.

"A transatlantic jump with passengers," Percy said, eyebrows raised. "You would pass out for hours, wouldn’t you?"

"Probably," Nico admitted. "But it’s no big deal."

"Come on, man. I don’t want you to kill yourself just for the sake of my birthday," Percy said, then smiled. "Thanks for the offer, though."

Nico tried to hide his blushing cheeks by sighing and looking back down into the cookbook. “I guess there’s no escaping the cake, then.”

"That was your motivation? And here I thought you were thinking about my happiness. I’m hurt, truly," Percy said, making a scene out of being offended. Nico rolled his eyes, but was unable not to smile.

"You realize I haven’t baked anything since before I left Italy," Nico pointed out. "And even then I had help."

Percy gave him a surprised look. “You got your memories back?”

"Bits and pieces have returned over time," Nico shrugged. "The point is the cake is going to turn out terrible."

"I have faith in you," Percy grinned, then the bastard disappeared out the door before Nico could tell him to help out. Nico sighed, returning to his task. At least the book gave pretty detailed instructions, though he had no idea at what time he was supposed to add the food coloring. He figured he’d just improvise and hope for the best.

 

By the time the cake was finished Nico had flour in his hair and burn marks in three different places on his arms, but the cake had actually turned out okay. It didn’t look especially pretty, but it wasn’t a complete disaster either. He had actually managed to get the icing on pretty smoothly.

"You actually did it!" Percy said excitedly as Nico brought him  the cake, decorated with a single burning candle. "Nico, this is amazing!"

"I followed the book, but I can’t guarantee it’ll taste good," Nico said, honestly a bit nervous about it. He sat down the cake on the table. "Well, then. Make a wish."

"I got my wish already," Percy grinned, but sat down to  and blew out the candle anyway.

“What do you mean?“ Nico asked curiously as he say down as well.

“Blue birthday cake and some company,” Percy said, smiling as he cut up the cake and handed Nico a piece. Thankfully the cake seemed to hold together nicely, but there was still the matter of the taste. Nico waited awkwardly as Percy took the first bite.

“Mmmm, this is really good,”  Percy said happily, and Nico breathed out, relieved, before tasting the cake himself.

“It’s a little dry,” he frowned. “Sorry.”

“Stop. It’s perfect,” Percy said, taking another mouthful. “Hey, do you want to watch a movie or something after this?”

“Um, I should probably…” Nico begun, but Percy was giving him the puppy eyes. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

“Great,” Percy said. His smiled caused an invasion of butterflies in Nico’s stomach, but he tried not to let it show.

They ate the rest of the cake on the couch in front of the television. Or rather, Percy ate it, Nico was fine with just one slice. The movie went a bit over Nico’s head, but he wasn’t sure if it was because the plot was too smart or too dumb. There was a lot of computer stuff involved, anyway. And explosions. Lots of explolotions. 

“You know,” Percy said after a while. “I don’t think the two of us have hung out together since my fifteenth birthday. You were my only guest then as well, remember?”

“I don’t think you can call me a guest this time. Kitchen staff is more like it,” Nico said dryly. “But yeah, I remember.”

“That was five years ago,” Percy said, sounding a bit said. “We should do this more often.”

There was a lump in Nico’s throat as he nodded. “I’d like that.”

They watched the movie in silence for a while, but Nico had completely lost track of the plot at this point. He was just watching things blow up on the screen, feeling increasingly tired. He hadn’t really had much sleep the last few days, and his eyelids were starting to drop down. Still, like Percy said, they seldom hang out together, so he should try to enjoy it while he could.

His brain clearly wasn’t with the program, though. Slowly and mostly against his will, Nico closed his eyes.


	18. Jasico - Meeting in prison AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: Meeting in prison AU

Jason was honestly scared as the guard led him through the building. All the stories he’d heard about prison ran on repeat in his head, making it hard to stay calm. He passed a couple of cell blocks, where the inmates either ignored him or gave him curious looks. So far nobody was shouting anything, at least.

The guard stopped, unlocking the cell in front of them.

“Di Angelo, you got a bunkmate,” the guard said, then gestured for Jason to enter. “Try to play nice.”

Jason reluctantly walked into the cell, hearing the guard lock the door behind him. Then he noticed the scrawny kid that didn’t look out of his teenage years sitting on the lower bed, and wondered if there had been some mistake.

The kid gave him once-over before getting on his feet and approaching. “I’m Nico di Angelo,” he said, offering his hand. “And you are?”

“Jason Grace,” Jason said hurriedly, shifting his belongings to one arm so he could shake Nico’s hand. “Sorry, but…how old are you?”

“Twenty two,” Nico said. “You don’t look that much older yourself, you know.”

“I’m twenty five,” Jason nodded. “How did you end up here? What did you do?”

Nico gave him a wry smile. “Starting with the easy questions, huh?” he said. “I killed someone. Didn’t mean to, but I ended up here anyway. You?”

Jason blinked, surprised by the casual tone. “Murder, but I didn’t do it,” he said uncertainly.

“You don’t sound too sure about that,” Nico noted.

“I know, that’s why the judge wasn’t convinced,” Jason said. “I don’t remember anything from that night. I think I was framed.”

“Harsh,” Nico said sympathetically, then walked over to the beds again and sat down on the lower one. “I’ve been here a while so I claimed the lower bed, but I’m not going to start a fight over it if you want it.”

“The top is fine,” Jason said, moving to put down his things. “Why did you kill someone?”

“So many personal questions,” Nico said tiredly. “He attacked my sister. I happened to get there in time to drag him off her. He had a knife. It was an accident, but he had a rich family with better lawyers.”

Jason frowned. Something was off about that story, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Maybe it was the monotone voice Nico was using to tell it. Then again, he had probably been forced to repeat it a hundred times now, so it could just be that. It wasn’t any of Jason’s business, in any case.

“You’re spacing out,” Nico said. “Does that happen often?”

Jason shook his head. “Sorry. Things have been…strange lately.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Nico said dryly. “If you’re worried about all the things you’ve probably heard about prison, don’t be. Not until tomorrow, at least. I’m not going to do anything, but it never hurts to keep your guard up around the others.”

“Thanks, now I feel really calm,” Jason scowled, and Nico gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Just telling it like it is,” he said. “It’s not that bad, though. I can point out the people you’ll want to steer clear of tomorrow.”

“That would be helpful,” Jason said, then hesitated. “Don’t you, um, get into trouble? With the other inmates?”

“Because I’m small and thin and the closest thing to female-looking they can get?” Nico asked sardonically. “Not so much. I can handle it. You might want to watch out, though.”

“Me?” Jason asked. “Great.”

“Just make sure they know trying would be more trouble than it’s worth, and you’ll be fine,” Nico said.

***

“Not exactly a five star restaurant, huh?” Jason commented, looking at the food on his tray in disgust as he followed Nico to an empty table. The cafeteria was pretty full of orange clad people, some of which were giving him curious and not necessarily friendly looks. Most of them minded their own business, though. Jason suspected they would continue to mind their own business even if someone were to start a fight.

“Relax, the cafeteria is reasonably safe,” Nico said, apparently reading his mind. “Unless you count the food, I guess.”

“No wonder you’re so thin,” Jason said, and Nico cracked a smile.

“You’ll get used to it,” he said. “Anyway, I should probably tell you that there is a possibility of getting better food, or cigarettes or chocolate or pretty much anything, if you have access to money.”

“I don’t have any money. My accounts have been frozen,” Jason said.

“Sucking dick also works, or so I’ve heard,” Nico said. “Don’t ask me whose, though. I prefer to stay far away from that business.”

Jason looked around for a moment, then shuddered. “I think I’ll do the same,” he said. “I was planning on going on a diet anyway.”

Nico actually laughed at that.

*** 

The yard was, well, a yard. A big square of nothing special surrounded by a high electrified fence. Some inmates were playing basket in a corner, but otherwise people were just walking around, enjoying the fresh air and possibly planning escape routes or something.

“I don’t really like being out here,” Nico said. “It’s too open.”

Jason agreed. Too open, and not enough guards. If something happened he was pretty sure the guards would wait until it was over before intervening. Still, feeling the wind in his face felt great. He closed his eyes to just enjoy it for a second.

“Hey, new guy!” someone shouted, and Jason opened his eyes just in time to see a fist flying towards his face. He was on the ground before he even knew what had happened.

“What the hell, Otis?” Nico shouted above him.

Jason’s ears were ringing a bit, but he could see the guy that had hit him. Big, muscular and with a stupid grin on his face.

“We need to show the new guy the ropes, right? Let him know who’s in charge,” he said, laughing as Jason got on his feet. “Want another lesson? Slow learner, huh?”

Jason had had enough. He had been framed for murder, had no way to prove his innocence and had gotten a twenty year-sentence, destoying any hope he’d had for a decent future. The food was terrible, there was no privacy and now thisdouchebag had decided he needed a punch in the face on top of it all.

Striking back felt like therapy.

The guy seemed surprised, but quickly tried to retaliate. Jason didn’t let him. He had grown up learning self defence from his military father, and this guy was just a street thug. He didn’t stand a chance. Jason kept puching him, taking out all his pent up frustration on the guy.

Someone grabbed his arm and twisted it around. Jason found himself pinned to the ground, and he tried to resist for a moment until he realized who it was.

“Calm down,” Nico said sternly. “Do you want to end up in isolation?”

Jason took a deep breath. “I’m calm. You can let go.”

“Good,” Nico said, letting go of his grip before turning to walk back into the prison. Jason followed him without a word.

“Don’t let that happen again,” the guard by the door said, more bored than threatening.

“Understood,” Jason said.

*** 

Something hit him that night after lights out.

“Nico, you awake?” he whispered. There was a groan below him as an answer.

“What?” Nico asked, sounding sleepy.

“Why did you kill that guy?” Jason asked. There was a long silence.

“What do you mean? I told you what happened,” Nico said.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make sense. You said it was an accident,” Jason said. “But I’ve been doing martial arts since I was a kid and you had me pinned on the ground in a second. Why didn’t you do the same to him?”

“You weren’t paying attention to me,” Nico tried, then sighed, sounding utterly defeated as he continued. “Look, I’ll tell you in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” Jason agreed, closing his eyes eyes and relaxing for a second before realizing he might just have told a murderer he’d figured out a hole in his cover story. He didn’t think Nico would do anything, but he had only known the kid for a day.

It took a long time for Jason to fall asleep.

 ***

“First, I need you to promise you won’t tell anyone about this,” Nico said the following morning.

“Fine, I promise,” Jason said, and Nico gave him a suspicious look before sighing.

“Can’t be helped, I guess,” he said. “Here’s the truth: I didn’t kill anyone.”

Jason blinked. “What?”

“My sister, Hazel, was walking home from work when this guy attacked her. She defended herself, but it’s true that it was an accident,” Nico said. “She was in shock when she called me. If she hadn’t also called an ambulance I would probably have tried to hide the body or something, but at least I arrived before the ambulance and the police. I took the blame.”

“And she just let you?” Jason asked in disbelief.

Nico smiled as he shook his head. “Of course not, but I convinced her,” he said. “She’d just had a baby, and I wasn’t doing anything useful with my life. It’s better this way.”

“Does she agree with that?”

“Probably not,” Nico shrugged. “Anyway, it’s just for two years, and would have been less if the guy hadn’t been from a rich family with a good lawyer. It was self-defence after all.”

“Still, going to jail for your sister…” Jason said, shaking his head. “That’s really brave.”

Nico scowled. “Just don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t,” Jason smiled. “What are the odds of two innocent men sharing the same cell, anyway?”

“Better than you think, probably,” Nico said dryly, then got up with a sigh. “Come on, I haven’t showed you the library yet.”

“Sounds like fun,” Jason smiled. 


	19. Jasico - Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a prompt, but [tinybro](http://tinybro.tumblr.com/) suggested Jason being turned into a dog in the Jasico tag and I wrote this for fun.

Jason had made a lot of bad decisions lately.

Going on a quest alone had been the first one, but the whole thing had seemed easy. Just retrieving an artifact from a magical guardian sounded like child’s play after the war. Pissing off the guardian in question had been the second bad decision. Not that it had been a decision, really, more a spontaneous thing. Either way, it had all led to this.

Jason was trying to navigate the city on four legs, overwhelmed by the sounds and smells around him. A young girl stopped briefly to pat his head before her mother dragged her away, warning her about approaching unknown dogs. It hadn’t really occurred to Jason until that point that he had been turned into a specific animal, but he managed to catch a glimpse of himself in a shop window. A big golden retriever looked back at him.

_If Lupa ever finds out about this, she’ll eat me._

He contemplated his fate for a few seconds before giving in to the impulse to scratch his ears. It proved more difficult  than he thought, and he almost fell over the first time, but it was a huge relief once he found the right spot.

After a while Jason got up and shook himself, preparing for a long walk back to camp.

***

Getting through the urban landscape proved harder than he’d have thought. He was constantly distracted by smells and sounds, and quickly lost track of where he was. Being a dog made the dyslexia worse than ever, and the letters on the signs just floated around.

Two days later he was tired, starving and a little beaten up from a fight with another dog. He had already stooped low enough to drink rainwater out of pools on the street, and garbage cans were starting to smell really good. Jason figured he didn’t really have a choice if he wanted to survive. Life as a dog really wasn’t as easy as the cartoons wanted people to believe.

Defeated by hunger, Jason started heading towards a garbage can before suddenly stopping, distracted. He lifted his head. There was a familiar scent in the air, a combination of dried leaves, earth, old leather and french fries. Jason couldn’t really explain why it felt familiar, only that something about it said home. He followed the scent, almost getting hit by a car in his excitement. The car honked as Jason ran along, trying to catch up with the scent.

When he did, he could hardly believe it. Nico di Angelo was standing in front of him, looking at the some books on display outside a store. The two years that had passed since Jason last saw him in person had barely changed him at all. They had talked over the IM a couple of times, but Nico always kept it short, never letting anyone know where he was. And now he was right there!

Nico looked up when Jason approached. He seemed a bit surprised, then cautiously bent down towards Jason, offering a hand. Jason sniffed it without really knowing why. It just seemed like he right thing to do.

"Hey, little guy," Nico said, despite the fact that Jason was a pretty big dog. Then again, Jason supposed he was a little guy compared to most hellhounds. “How come you aren’t afraid of me?”

Jason tried to explain who he was, but all that came out was barking and whining and a lot of involuntary tail-wagging. His tail was completely out of control.

"What’s wrong?" Nico asked. "Is someone in trouble? Show me!"

Of course, there was nothing Jason could show him. Eventually Nico seemed to realize it and started to walk away, but Jason followed him. Even if he hadn’t been his best chance to become human again there was no way he was letting Nico go after finding him again after so long.

"Why are you following me?" Nico asked, but Jason couldn’t answer. He hoped Nico wouldn’t shadow travel away just to get rid of the crazy dog, but thankfully he didn’t. Instead he actually stopped at a pet store to buy dog food before leading them  back to a building that made Jason’s hairs rise. He growled at the house, not certain why. Nico just laughed quietly and petted his head.

"Yes, it’s haunted," he said. "The ghosts are harmless, though. No need to be scared."

He went inside, and Jason reluctantly followed. It took him a while to get used to the prickling feeling in his skin, but like Nico said, the ghosts seemed harmless, completely ignoring him as they floated around. And hey, who knew dog food actually tasted good?

Nico gave him the most unpleasant bath he’d ever had. Despite being dirty and probably smelling bad to Nico’s human nose, Jason had a hard time not struggling when Nico showered him. When Nico was finally finished Jason shook himself on instinct, spraying water all around him.

“Hey, stop it,” Nico complained, though he sounded more amused than angry. “We should be thankful the water’s still running in this place.”

Jason actually  _was_  thankful. Even if being covered in wet fur was really uncomfortable, he was clean and no longer hungry. Not to mention he had company. Jason honestly wasn’t sure if the dog or human part of him was more excited over not being alone anymore. The fact that he had found Nico after two years was icing on the cake.

"There’s something odd about you," Nico said later. He was sitting on the ragged couch with a book in his hands, and Jason jumped up beside him, curling up by his feet. It was a bit strange, but felt right somehow. And the couch was cozy. "Normal dogs don’t like me, so you’re not a normal dog, but you’re not a hellhound either. So what are you?"

Jason just whimpered, and Nico sighed, reaching out to scratch him behind the ears. It felt insanely good, and Jason pushed his head against Nico’s hand, not wanting him to stop.

"It doesn’t matter right now, I suppose," Nico mumbled, continuing to pet him. Considering how much Nico hated it when humans touched him, Jason was a little surprised, but on the other hand it felt really, really nice. Becoming a dog might not be as terrible as he first thought.

The haunted house had no electricity, so it was pretty cold. When Nico went to sleep Jason jumped up into the bed after him, mostly so he wouldn’t miss it if Nico went away again. However, the boy moved closer to him, snuggling up against his back. He was shivering a bit in the cold, and Jason wondered how he had managed not to get sick so far. Not to mention that he must have been really lonely. On impulse Jason turned his head to lick Nico’s face.

"Gross," Nico laughed sleepily, and Jason realized he’d never heard Nico laugh like that before. Hell, since becoming a dog he’d seen a whole new side of Nico di Angelo, one that was completely open and unafraid of judgement. Jason wished more people could have the chance to see it. It was impossible to think of the son of Hades as scary or dangerous after seeing him snuggled up to a big dog, even if that big dog happened to be you.

***

It was strange how much he was enjoying life as a dog, now that he wasn’t living on the streets anymore. He should have been trying to find a way back to camp, but he didn’t think he’d make the journey alone, and more importantly he didn’t want to risk losing track of Nico again. Besides, for the first time in his life he had no responsibilities, quests or expectations to live up to. It was a nice vacation.

He felt a bit bad about the fact that Nico didn’t know who he actually was, especially after Nico cuddled up to him at night for warmth and comfort. Nico was a lot more affectionate than Jason could have imagined, and he found himself enjoying that as well. More than enjoy, really. Nobody had ever really shown him affection like that before, and he hadn’t known how much he had needed it. The wolves and Camp Jupiter hadn’t exactly been much for coddling the kids, and that was definitely what Nico was doing right now.  _Coddling_  him, showering him with affection. The nearest he had come to anything like this was his relationship with Piper, and that had ended more than a year ago.

Nico seemed to really appreciate the contact as well. Jason wondered how long it had been since he had dared to be this open with anyone, to smile and laugh and cry without fear of being judged. The sad part was that if Jason had been human Nico would never have let his guard down like this.

They spent roughly a week together, then Hazel sent Nico an IM.

"Hi, Hazel, what’s up?" Nico asked.

"Oh, gods, you look thinner again," Hazel said without greeting. "When are you coming to visit?"

"You ask me that every time," Nico said, shaking his head. "How are you doing?"

"Things are a bit chaotic here," Hazel said. "Jason disappeared, and everyone is trying to find him."

"Disappeared?" Nico asked, frowning. "How?"

"He went to retrieve an artifact about a week ago and hasn’t been back since. No one can reach him," Hazel said. "Could you keep a look out?"

"Of course. I’ll talk to you later, Hazel," Nico said and broke the connection. Jason actually hesitated, not sure he wanted it to end just yet, but there might never be another opportunity to make Nico understand. He stood up and started barking as loud as he could, and Nico looked at him, first like he was going to tell him to be quiet, then his eyes widened and a flood of emotions passed through his face.

"Jason?" he asked quietly, his voice shaking slightly.  Jason could smell that he was terrified, and he didn’t like it. He carefully approached, gently bumping Nico’s hand with his nose. Nico grabbed his head, leaning down to look him straight in the eyes.

"I should have known," Nico said, his voice sounding strained. "That color…I should have realized. I’m so sorry."

Jason wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but all he could do was lick Nico’s hand. Nico moved away like he had been burned.

"Don’t do that!" he said angrily. "I’m taking you to Camp Jupiter. They can help you."

***

The children of Trivia managed to figure out his problem pretty quickly. Apparently the transformation was just another way of using the mist, and though none of them could have cast a spell like it they managed to get rid of it quickly enough. Jason almost stumbled when he took his first step on two legs again.

The first thing he did was run after Nico, who was still at camp. He looked up as Jason approached, then turned his gaze toward the ground with a frown.

"Can we talk?" Jason asked, but Nico shook his head, not looking at him.

"There’s nothing to talk about. I’m glad you’re standing on two legs again," he said, starting to walk away. "I should get going."

"Nico, wait!" Jason exclaimed, hurrying to catch up with him. "You’re not going back to that house, right?"

"It’s none of your business, Jason!" Nico yelled, then seemed shocked at his own loudness. "Look, just…just leave me alone, okay?"

"No," Jason said stubbornly. "Nico, please. Don’t go back there alone. Let me come with you."

"Why?" Nico demanded. "I don’t need your pity, and I don’t need you licking my face, either."

Jason could feel his face heat up. Said like that it sounded like a pretty weird thing to do.

"I was a dog," Jason defended himself stupidly. "And I won’t do it again. It’s not pity. Why is it so hard to understand that I genuinely care about you?"

Nico looked stunned for a moment, then his eyes blazed in anger. “No, you don’t,” he said. “You can’t.” Before Jason realized what he was doing shadows swallowed him up. Jason was left alone, staring at the spot where Nico had just stood.

***

Finding the house took a while without the help of scents. Jason doubted Nico had returned there, but it was worth a try. The door made an eerie sound when Jason entered, and the house had never felt more haunted, but Jason continued up the stairs and into the bedroom.

"You came," Nico said hollowly, and Jason almost jumped out of his skin. The son of Hades was sitting at the bed they had shared for a week, looking surprised to see him. His breath formed a small cloud beside his mouth.

"You ran away from me," Jason frowned. "And you’re going to catch a cold in this place. Come back to camp with me."

"I’m not going back. I don’t belong there," Nico said stubbornly. Jason sighed as he sank down beside him on the bed.

"Fine. I’m not going to force you," he said. "But you shouldn’t stay here, either. It’s not healthy."

Nico snorted, though he didn’t answer.

"Okay, so that was a weak argument," Jason admitted. "But the point still stands. If you don’t want to stay at camp, they could help you get into some kind of boarding school or something. You can’t just hang around haunted houses for the rest of your life, Nico. That’s no way to live."

Nico still didn’t say anything.

"You know," Jason said carefully. "I’ve been thinking about moving away for college myself. Maybe we could go to the same place."

"What?" Nico asked, looking up at him in surprise.

"Camp Jupiter has a support system for demigods who want to move away. They could help getting an apartment and everything," Jason said quickly. "I think it would be a good idea. You could finish school."

"You’re seriously asking me to come live with you?" Nico asked in disbelief. "Why? You could get anyone else just by asking, so why  _me_?”

"I’d like to know you’re safe, and healthy," Jason shrugged. "And for the record, I _have_  talked to the others about  this, and they’re not interested in going with me.”

"I…" Nico begun, then trailed off, looking down at the floor. Without really thinking about it Jason put an arm around him and pulled him close.

"Please don’t do that," Nico said weakly, tensing up at the touch.

"Why?" Jason asked. "I know you crave affection as much as anyone. I saw it before, remember?"

"That was different. You were a dog," Nico mumbled, shrugging Jason’s arm off. "And I didn’t know."

"I almost feel I should have stayed a dog, just so you would still be honest with me," Jason sighed. "Nico, I’ve seen what you’re like when you’re not hiding your feelings, when you’re completely yourself. Trust me, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

“How can you say that?” Nico demanded. “You saw everything. You know exactly how… how pathetic I am. I already told you; I don’t need your pity.”

“And I already said it isn’t pity. I care about you,” Jason said sternly. “And if you want to talk pathetic, look at me. When I finally got the opportunity to make you understand it was me, I  _hesitated_. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to become human again, because  I  _liked_  being your pet. I liked that you took care of me and was there for me, because it’s not really something I’ve experienced before, and I didn’t want to give that up. Now who’s pathetic?”

Nico stared at him, wide eyed as a blush crept up his cheeks. “I, um, I didn’t realize,” he muttered, lowering his eyes to the floor.

“Sorry if that creeps you out,” Jason said, then cleared his throat. “Anyway, um, about schools and living together and all that. I understand if you don’t want to come with me, but you should look into it anyway.”

“Maybe,” Nico said, talking to the floor. “Maybe we could try it. It probably won’t work out, though.”

Jason gave him a surprised smile. “Really? You’re sure?”

Nico blushed again. “I want my own room, and you’ll pay for your own food,” he said. “But yeah, we could try.”

“Thank you,” Jason said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Now let’s head back to camp. It’s freezing in here.”

Nico sighed. “I guess you’re right. Without my dog it would be pretty cold to sleep.”

“I’m right here if you want to,” Jason offered with a grin. “But I would still rather go somewhere warmer.”

Nico didn’t reply, just grabbed his arm and shadow traveled them both away. Wherever Nico took them, it was really dark. Jason couldn’t see anything until Nico turned the lights on, revealing a cozy room with beds along the walls and some armchairs  and  desk at the end.

“Is this your cabin?”  Jason asked, looking around. Nico nodded, and Jason was honestly surprised. He would have expected the Hades cabin to be a lot more gloomy, but it actually looked comfortable.

“You wanted somewhere warmer,” Nico shrugged. “I sleep here occasionally, though I haven’t really seen the rest of Camp Half-Blood since the war. It’s easier to just come and go without anyone noticing.”

“That’s harsh. Everyone misses you, you know,” Jason said. “So, can I stay here with you?”

“I don’t need anyone to coddle me, you know. I can face my own nightmares,” Nico said.

“I know. That’s not why I asked,” Jason said. “It was a purely selfish question. I like having someone nearby.”

Nico blushed. “I’m sure you can find a lot of volunteers for that.”

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable with just anyone. Maybe I should get a dog myself,” Jason smiled. “What do you think? If we get an apartment, would you want a puppy?”

“You’re assuming it’ll work out,” Nico pointed out. “Besides, regular dogs don’t like me.”

“I didn’t like the smell of the haunted house either, but I got used to it. A puppy wouldn’t be a problem,” Jason said dismissively. “It’ll be fine.”

“I could get us a hellhound,” Nico said, probably trying to scare him off.

“That sounds even better,” Jason grinned.

Nico blinked, then shook his head with a sigh. “Fine, you can stay. But if you lick my face again I’m throwing you out.”

“Agreed,” Jason said, following Nico to the bed. It was narrower than they were used to, and Jason was bigger as well, but it just meant they had to be closer together.

“I still want my own room,” Nico said grumpily once he was lying down with Jason spooning him with an arm around his waist. Jason laughed into his hair.

“Duly noted,” he said. “I still want a dog.”

Nico gave an exasperated groan, then yawned widely. “Let’s just get the apartment first, then we’ll see.”

“Mmm,” Jason agreed, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the scent of the boy in his arms. It wasn’t as strong but it still felt comforting, and slightly intoxicating.He was looking forward to finding out where this whole thing with Nico was going, but for now he was content.

Jason relaxed, slowly falling asleep with a smile on his lips.


	20. Jasico - Knocking on the wrong door AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: Knocking on the wrong door AU

In Nico’s defense he had been in a hurry, more than in a hurry really; he had beenlate. It wasn’t actually his fault, there had been an accident on the road so traffic had been really slow. It wasn’t actually that big a deal, he was just having dinner with his sister and her boyfriend in their new apartment and he’d already sent a message telling them to start without him, but he was still a bit stressed out.

He was half an hour late when he finally made his way up the stairs to the third floor and knocked on the door. A moment later it opened to reveal a veryhandsome blond guy that definitely wasn’t Frank.

“Who are you?” Nico blurted out, and the blond guy raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“I could ask you the same. This isn’t some sort of religious thing, right? Knocking on people’s doors and asking who they are?” the guy smiled.

Nico blinked in confusion, then realized what was going on. “Sorry, I think I’m at the wrong door,” he said, looking behind him to see that, yes, there was another door at this floor. “My sister lives over there. Sorry to disturb you.”

“No problem. I was in the middle of accounting, and a distraction was more than welcome,” the guy said. “Feel free to come knocking again sometime.”

“Um, sure. Thanks,” Nico said uncertainly, not really knowing how to respond to that. “I’ll be going.”

The guy nodded, giving Nico another smile as he closed his door. Nico walked over to the right door and knocked again, and was soon greeted by his sister’s smiling face.

“Finally. We were starting to think you weren’t going to show up,” Hazel said, giving him a brief hug. “Now come on. The food is getting cold.”

“I told you to start without me,” Nico said as he took off his coat.

“I tried, Hazel insisted we wait,” Frank grinned. “What took you so long?”

“Stuck in traffic,” Nico said. “And then I went and knocked on the wrong door by mistake. Your neighbor seems a bit odd.”

“Jason? The tall, blond guy? Really?” Hazel asked. “He always seemed normal to me. He may be working too hard, though. You might have caught him at a bad moment.”

“Could be,” Nico shrugged, doubting he’d see Jason again. “What’s for dinner?”


	21. Jasico - Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by [fimyuan](http://fimyuan.tumblr.com/):Jason the new guy on library staff who sees this guy tucked away in a corner, asleep against the bookshelves, and coos a bit before draping a jacket over him <3 (and then of course Nico wakes up and is like "this is not my jacket")
> 
> Based on [this](http://fimyuan.tumblr.com/post/98841806030/betsib-replied-to-your-post-sketch-prompts-nico)

Jason was walking around the library, putting returned books back into the shelves and making sure the lines of books were somewhat straight and in order. It was a good way to learn where everything was.This was only his second week working the evening shift at his local public library, and he still had trouble finding stuff sometimes. The excuse “sorry, I’m new here” would only work for so long, especially since the place wasn’t that big.

Jason walked around the corner towards World Religions when he stopped midstep. There was a boy, or rather a boyish looking young man, sitting on the floor with a book in his lap, leaning against the shelf behind him and apparently fast asleep. He has curly black hair and really long dark eyelashes, a sharp contrast to his almost sickly pale skin. Jason could see him shivering slightly, so the aviator’s jacket he was wearing apparently wasn’t enough to keep him warm. It wasn’t that strange, considering the building was old and not very well isolated.

Without really thinking about it Jason took off his thick cardigan and draped it over the sleeping boy. He seemed warmer immediately, unconsciously snuggling into the warmth of the knitted fabric. Jason smiled at the scene, kinda wishing he had his phone on him to take a picture. It was pretty damn adorable.

Jason went back to work. There weren’t many customers around, but he helped a young mother find some good books to read aloud to her children, and spent some time chatting quietly with an old woman who claimed to be looking for books but probably mostly came to have someone to talk to. Jason didn’t mind. It was nice to be needed, and he felt so much more comfortable here than at the large cooperation he’d had an internship at last summer. That had been all stress and demands and “do this faster and better and cheaper” with little thanks or appreciation. This was different. The only people in a hurry at the library were the occasional college student.

When there was about an hour left until closing time the boy from World Religions walked up to the desk.

“I think someone forgot this,” he said, his face burning red as he handed the cardigan over. Jason took it with a smile.

“Actually it’s mine,” he said, watching the boy turn even redder. “You looked cold.”

“I’m sorry about falling asleep,” the boy muttered, then put a book down on the counter along with a library card. “I’d like to borrow these.”

“Of course,” Jason said, reading the card into the machine. The system told him the boy’s name was Nico di Angelo. Jason smiled. He certainly had looked a bit like an angel when he was asleep.

“There you go,” Jason said, handing the book back to Nico, who wasn’t looking him in the eye when he took it.

“Thanks,” the boy said, moving to turn away as he put the book into his bag. His face was still red.

“You know, there’s a couch in the Newspaper and Magazines-section if you get tired again,” Jason said. “I’d probably be more comfortable than the floor.”

“It won’t happen again,” the boy, Nico, mumbled, then more or less fled out of the library. Jason looked after him with a smile, hoping he’d be back soon.

This job was turning out much more interesting than he had thought.


	22. Jasico - Staging Grease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A combination of two prompts:
> 
> talysalankil: Jasico staging a (terrible) high school musical
> 
> anonymous: Trying to imagine Jason and Nico in the Summet Nights scene from Grease, but can't decide who is Danny and who is Sandy. What do you think? (Percy can be Frenchy..)

Staging a musical in an all-boys’ school had been a bad idea from the start.

Competing with Percy for the role of Danny in  _Grease_ had been an even worse idea. Jason’s only saving grace was that Percy hadn’t gotten the role either. Still, Frenchie was a step closer to Danny, as Percy had gleefully explained. Jason had tried to argue that at least  _he_ got a leading role, but the fact still remained that he had auditioned for Danny and ended up as Sandy.

The role of Danny had been filled a few weeks later by the one person in the drama club who didn’t want it.

“My hair is disgusting,” Nico complained beside him as they were waiting for rehearsals to start. Their teacher, a guy calling himself Apollo, kept insisting that they look the parts even if they were still far away from the premiere, because it would apparently “help find the characters inside your souls”. Jason was just glad he hadn’t been forced to dress in drag. The entire plot of the musical had been altered to fit an all-boy school setting, meaning everyone was a guy. Leo had joked that they should use “ _Grease_  - now gayer than ever” as their slogan.

“It’s called  _Grease_  for a reason, you know,” Percy laughed.

“Given the amount of gay action in this play, there might be another reason for that name,” Leo laughed. “Hey, do you think hair gel could be used to…”

“No,” Nico said. “And please stop talking.”

“Fine, we need to start rehearsing anyhow,” Leo grinned. “But later I want to know how you can be so sure of that.”

“It says ‘not for internal use’ on the bottle,” Nico muttered.

“Wait, that’s what that means? I thought…” Jason said, but he had barely finished before Apollo walked through the door, smiling brightly as he always did.

“Places, everyone,” he singsonged. “We’ve been making good progress the last few weeks. Let’s try to make it all the way through this time. If you forget your lines, make something up. You all know how the story goes.”

“I barely remember half my lines,” Percy laughed as he and Jason walked to their side of the stage. “This is going to be interesting.”

“To put it mildly. Think Nico’s going to be okay?” Jason asked, casting a concerned glance at the boy, who was currently wiping his hands on his black jeans, presumably to get hair gel off them. “He hadn’t had much time to prepare.”

“He’ll be fine. It’s just practice,” Percy said dismissively. “Come on, Sandra Dee. Let’s get started.”

Nico was a good singer, but his discomfort with the role was pretty apparent all the way through “Summer Nights”. Jason didn’t have much time to watch him, but from what he could see Nico hated the dance moves he obediently performed. Leo on the other had seemed to be having a blast. His rendition of “Greased Lightning” left Jason laughing so hard he had trouble continuing the play afterwards.

“Good work, everyone!” Apollo exclaimed when the first act was finished, without any major hiccups. Some of the acting had been awful and a few people had forgotten their lines, but they made it though. “Some pointers: Percy and Leo, you’re not taking it seriously enough. Jason, you need to look at the audience. Frank, ask someone to do something about that wig, it’s awful.”

He walked around, pointing at things as he spoke, finally stopping in front of Nico and giving him a once over. “Nico, everything else works, but you need to believe you’re sexy,” he said, then looked at Jason. “Jason, tell Nico he’s sexy. I’m your teacher so I can’t do it. Make sure he believes you.”

Nico scowled, face turning red as Apollo moved to talk to the musicians. Jason decided it was probably best not to follow their teachers order, even though… Jason let his eyes wander over Nico. Well, sexy wasn’t really the word he would use. “Cute as can be” came pretty close though.

“What?” Nico asked, sounding irritated. Jason shook his head.

“Nothing,” he said. “Ready for the next act?”

“As much as I’ll ever be,” Nico muttered. “Why the hell couldn’t Apollo cast Percy in this role?”

“Why not me?” Jason asked, making an effort to not be offended..

“Erhm,” Nico said, looking away. “Let’s just say you make a good Sandy, and leave it at that.”

“Ouch,” Jason muttered, then Apollo called them back to the stage.

The dancing scene was a mess, but otherwise things went smoothly until the drive-in scene, where Danny was supposed to make moves on Sandy. It was the one scene that never worked, mostly because Nico always had problems with it. His attempts at forceful touches wouldn’t even have made a nun uncomfortable. Still, Jason had to pretend that a hand on his arm was something to be upset over.

Jason was a bit late for the last scene, because putting on the leather pants always took him much longer than it should. Jason was almost sure they were a size too small. Nico was barely looking at him during “The one that I want”, and Jason wondered if it was because he was embarrassed or if Jason just looked stupid in the pants. Bit of both possibly.

“Okay, that was great!” Apollo said afterwards. “Give yourselves a big applause.”

After the clapping died out, Apollo made another round, giving pointers. Jason wasn’t surprised when he told Nico to “Be bolder with the touching” but the next part was surprising.

“Jason, homework for you and Nico,” he said. “Get used to touching each other. I don’t care how. Next rehearsal I want to see a believable romance.”

There was laughter all around, and Jason blushed deeply. Nico was looking down at the floor, completely red as well.

***

Later that day Jason knocked on the door to Nico’s dorm room, one of the few single rooms in the building.  Nico’s hair was dripping wet when he opened the door. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt with a skeleton in it, not really looking that much different than on set, save the hair.

“Hey,” Jason said. “I was hoping we could talk.”

Nico frowned, but moved aside to let him in. “Is this about the so-called homework?” he asked. “You don’t have to bother. It’s my problem, and I’ll fix it.”

“It’s both our problem,” Jason pointed out. “Look, we should just work out exactly how we’re going to play that scene. It would make everything easier.”

Nico looked like he was going to protest, then sighed. “Fine.”

“Good,” Jason smiled. “So how do we…um…”

“How should I know?” Nico said, cheeks turning pink. “I don’t even like touching people.”

“Okay,” Jason said. “Let’s see. In the scene we’re sitting side by side in a open car, so…” he trailed off. The only seat in the room was Nico’s bed.

“The floor?” Nico suggested, and Jason nodded quickly. They sat down, and an awkward silence filled the room. Neither of them moved for a while.

“Maybe you should try putting an arm around me or something,” Jason suggested, feeling a bit stupid. On the other had, the awkwardness almost made it feel like a real first date, so there was that.

“Right,” Nico said, doing as he asked. Jason was almost a head taller and had pretty wide shoulders, so it was pretty strange for both of them. Still, it wasn’t what they needed.

“I don’t think anyone would react violently to this.”

“I would. I told you, I don’t like touching people or the other way around,” Nico said, scowling as he withdrew his arm and stood up. “This is not going to work. I’ll tell Apollo tomorrow.”

“Is touching me really that terrible?” Jason asked, honestly a little offended.

“It’s not about you.”

“If you quit they’re going to give Percy the role. He’ll be insufferable,” Jason said, pleading. “Come on, man. Don’t do that to me.”

Nico looked a bit hesitant, then sighed deeply as he sat down again. “This whole thing is stupid,” he declared. “The plot makes no sense in an all-boy setting.”

“It didn’t make much sense before we changed it, either,” Jason pointed out with a smile. “At least we’re doing Grease and not, I don’t know,  _My Fair Lady_  or  _Legally Blond_ , or something.”

“I’d rather do one of those. It’d be less touching,” Nico said gloomily. “Or we could have done something cool, like  _Wicked_. Why  _Grease_?”

“I heard Apollo played the lead once in his youth. I guess he wanted to relive it,” Jason said.

“He’s welcome to take over the role any time he wants.”

“Not with me as Sandy. I’d quit,” Jason laughed. “I’d much rather have you in the role.”

“Nobody is going to buy me as Danny. The whole thing is a joke,” Nico scowled. “If I didn’t need the extra credits I would never have agreed to it in the first place.”

Jason smiled. “Well, I’m not exactly the conventional Sandy, either,” he said. “It’s just for fun, Nico. Nobody but Apollo is taking it seriously.”

“I know, but still…” Nico said. “It’s stupid.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Jason smiled. “Do you want to try again?”

Nico made a pained expression, but he obediently put his arm back around Jason’s shoulders. “Now what?”

“I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I actually watched  _Grease_ ,” Jason said. “Launch yourself at me or something?”

“Who the hell would do that?” Nico said, looking disgusted. “Let’s just look up the scene on Youtube.”

As it turned out, Jason had basically been right. Nico made an attempt to recreate the scene, but it just ended with Jason on his back on the floor with Nico on top of him.

“Sorry, sorry, that was too forceful, sorry,” Nico mumbled as he scrambled off him, and Jason couldn’t help but laugh.

“You should have joined the football team. That was quite a tackle,” Jason grinned, as he sat back up. “Try again. I’m prepared now.”

This time it worked better, and they were able to play out the scene. It wasn’t very convincing, Nico still looked uncomfortable and a little concerned and Jason was probably smiling too much, but at least they knew what to do now.

“Think that’ll do?” Nico asked after their second successful attempt.

Jason nodded. “I think it’ll be fine,” he said. “Want to practice the dancing stuff as well?”

“Maybe tomorrow?” Nico suggested. “It’s getting late.”

“I’ll hold you to that, then,” Jason smiled. “Goodnight.”

He walked back to his room with a smile on his face. The play was going to be a disaster, but at least it looked like it would be fun.


	23. Jasico - Sex phone operator AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by anonymous: Jasico~your voice sounds like my sex phone operator au :D

Jason took a deep breath and dialed the number. His palms felt sweaty at he brought the phone to his ear.

It had been Piper’s suggestion, after Jason told her he might be interested in guys. Well, her first suggestion had been hooking him up with someone, but that had felt like too much too fast. So she’d looked up the number to a gay phone sex line and told him to give it a try.

The dial tone repeated twice, then someone answered. Jason got so hung up on the voice itself, a melodious baritone with a slight accent he couldn’t quite place, that he missed the actual words. The voice sounded younger than Jason had expected.

“Hello?” the person on the other end of the like said after a silence, and Jason was brought back to reality.

“Um, hi, sorry,” Jason said hastily, feeling like an idiot. “I…uh, I have never called one of these lines before. I’m not sure what to do.”

There was a pause on the other end, then a laugh, making Jason feel even worse about the whole thing.

“Sorry, I’m not laughing at you,” the voice said. “It’s just that I’m filling in for a friend and you’re my first customer. I’m not really sure how this is done either.”

Jason snorted. “This is awkward,” he said, even though he was actually starting to relax.

“I can redirect you to someone more experienced if you’d like,” the voice offered, still sounding amused by the situation.

“No, it’s fine,” Jason said. “I think I’d rather keep talking to you, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s probably going to be a mess,” the voice pointed out. “But it’s your choice. What do I call you?”

“Jason,” Jason said automatically, then mentally chastised himself for giving his real name. Not that it really mattered, he supposed.

“Hello, Jason,” the voice said, sounding like he was smiling. “What do you want to call me?”

“Um,” Jason said uncertainly. “I have no idea. Whatever name you usually use is fine.”

“Hey, this is my first time doing this, you know,” the voice pointed out. “Is ‘Rico’ okay?”

“Sure,” Jason said. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“My friend told me to always ask,” Rico said. “After all,it could be the name of your father or brother or something.”

Jason chuckled. “I guess that would be a turn-off.”

“You don’t say,” Rico said dryly. “So tell me, Jason, what are you into?”

“Um,” Jason said, feeling lost again. “I’m not sure. To be honest I only just discovered that I’m interested in guys, so…”

“So you called as an experiment?” Rico asked, sounding like he was smiling again.

“It seemed safer than hooking up with some random dude,” Jason shrugged.

“Good thinking,” Rico said, chuckling slightly. “Well, if you have no repressed fantasies or anything, I guess we can stick to the basics. What are you wearing?”

Jasob couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that actually a thing? I never thought people really asked that.”

“It’s on my cheat sheet. Sue me.”

“You have a cheat sheet?” Jason laughed. “What else is on there?”

“Indulge me and you’ll find out,” Rico said smugly. “Tell me what you’re wearing.”

***

Jason wondered if it was possible to fall in love with a voice. He and “Rico” had talked for almost three hours, and apart from the first awkwards minutes Jason had enjoyed every moment of it. When they finally got around to the whole “sex” part of phone sex it had felt completely natural, like the end of a really good date.

Jason feared what his phone bill would be like, but he kinda felt it had been worth it. Still, he made a vow not to do it again. “Rico” was only doing his job, after all, and Jason already felt an attachment to him. Better to stop before he actually developed deeper feelings for the guy and got his heart broken.

 

A few weeks later Piper dragged him to a party at Percy’s place. The apartment was packed with people, all dancing and talking and shouting while getting drunker by the minute. Jason lasted about an hour, then retreated out on the balcony for a moment of peace.

He took a few deep breaths, enjoying the solitude.

“Are you going to smoke?” a voice said behind him, and Jason almost jumped out of his skin before turning around to see a dark-clad, thin boy sitting in the corner of the balcony, leaning against the wall. He pretty much melted into the shadows, so it wasn’t that strange that Jason had missed him.

“No, I just came out for some fresh air,” Jason said, looking down at the stranger. He thought he knew everyone at the party, but apparently not.

“Good. Then I don’t have to go back in,” the boy said, and there was something familiar about him. Maybe they had met before, and Jason had just forgotten about it. Still, he was pretty cute. Jason didn’t think he would just forget a face like that.

“You feeling okay?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, I just wanted to get away from the party a bit. So many people,” the guy said, and there was that familiar feeling again. Something about the voice….

“I know what you mean,” Jason nodded. “I wonder how Percy thought inviting so many to his tiny apartment was a good idea.”

“He’s always like that,” the boy chuckled, and Jason froze.

He recognized that chuckle. Suddenly he knew exactly why the boy seemed familiar.

Jason stared at the boy in front of him, taking in his messy, slightly curly black hair, dark eyes and thin frame. It wasn’t what Jason had pictured, but the boy was a perfect match with the voice Jason had been dreaming about for weeks now.

“What?” the boy asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry,” Jason said hastily. “I just…I have to ask,” he took a deep breath. “Are you Rico?”

“It’s ‘Nico’, actually. With an…” the boy begun casually, then stopped, eyes widened. Suddenly he backed up against the wall, looking like a deer in headlights. “No!” he said. “Please, no. Don’t come near me.”

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything,” Jason said, taking a step backwards with his hands in the air, feeling bad about how terrified Nico looked. “I just recognized your voice and wanted to make sure. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll leave, if you want me to.”

He started to turn around.

“Wait,” Nico said. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

“I won’t. I promise,” Jason said, smiling reassuringly towards him.

The boy seemed to relax a bit, and sat back down. “Thank you,” he said, looking up at Jason with a small frown. “I… I think I recognize you too. Jason, right?”

Jason’s smile got wider, if a little embarrassed. “I didn’t think you’d remember me.”

“You were the only good call I had,” Nico scowled. “I don’t know how Mitch does it. I was only filling in for him for a week and I was ready to kill someone by the end of it.”

Jason laughed a little at that. “For what it’s worth, I think you did a great job.”

Nico looked away, and Jason thought his cheeks turned red, though it was hard to see on the dark balcony.

“Sorry about freaking out before,” Nico mumbled. “For a moment I thought you were one of the other guys. I never want to meet them.”

“That bad, huh?” Jason asked, hesitating for a second before sitting down beside him.

“One guy told me he wanted to use me as a toilet,” Nico said with a shudder. “And he wasn’t even the worst.”

“Seriously? That’s disgusting,” Jason said, making a face. “Who the hell would do that?”

“You’d be surprised at the things that turn people on. I know I was,” Nico said, looking away again. “I admit, I was sort of hoping you would call again, but…”

“I wanted to, but I couldn’t afford it becoming a habit,” Jason confessed. “I’m still at university, you know. Just once was way above my budget.”

Nico chuckled. “I get that. I’m a student as well. Second year Art History.”

“First year Mythology and Folklore, though I switched majors twice,” Jason said. “I’m Jason Grace, by the way.”  
“Nico di Angelo,” Nico said. “Jason is actually your real name?”

Jason shrugged. “It’s not like ‘Rico’ is very far from your name either.”

“Point taken,” Nico said with a sigh. There was silence for a while while Jason tried to figure out something else to say.

“You know what’s funny,” Nico smiled. “For a while I thought you might have been someone Mitch payed to call me, to ease me into the job.”

Jason grinned. “Really? I kinda thought you might have been playing a role just to keep me on the line.”

Nico chuckled, and Jason really loved that sound. “I’m definitely not that good of an actor.”

They sat in silence for a while, then Nico sighed and got on his feet.

“I should get home,” he said, brushing off his torn black jeans. “It was nice to actually meet you.”

“Wait,” Jason said hurriedly. “Could I have your number?”

Nico raised an eyebrow, and Jason blushed. “I don’t mean for phone sex,” he clarified. “You seem like a cool guy. We could hang out sometime.”

“Oh,” Nico said, and Jason was pretty sure he was blushing now as well. Man, he was cute. “Just hang out?”

“Or go out. If you want to,” Jason said, holding out his phone.

“Maybe,” Nico nodded, face red as he wrote down the number and handed the phone back to Jason.

“Thanks. Do you need a ride home?”

“No, I live only a few blocks away,” Nico said. “Thanks for the offer, though.”

He disappeared back into the apartment, leaving Jason alone on the balcony. He saved the number, vaguely aware he was grinning like an idiot.


	24. Jasico - Angels and demons AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Good Omens-ish AU with Jason as an angel and Nico as a demon I wrote in honor of 666 followers, and briefly continued later. Might still be a longer story some day.

Jason hadn’t been on earth for very long.

He had visited before, of course. Shorter trips, blessing a few people, smiting some demons, the occasional natural disaster (he was particularly good at thunderstorms). Now he had been reassigned as earth’s protector, tasked with keeping the demonic influence at bay. It wasn’t the promotion his higher ups made it out to be, but it was still an important job, and Jason was good at it.

Had he been human, he would have lost count of how many demons he had sent back to hell in the ten short years he had lived on earth (1766, which was more than Percy used to take care of in fifty years. Jason suspected the other angel hadn’t really been trying). Knowing  that the demons would to try to instill doubt in him about his mission, Jason never gave them a chance to start talking before smiting them.

Until he met Nico.

He felt the demonic presence from miles away, but when he got closer there was no carnage happening. No murder, mayhem or vile sexual acts. What he found instead was a demon looking like a teenage boy, drinking coffee at a café while watching the pedestrians outside trying to pick up a coin that had apparently been glued to the ground.

Jason approached cautiously, suspecting a trap. The demon, looked up at him with a resigned expression.

“I suspected you’d show up soon. My name is Nico. I was hoping to talk to you before you send me back to hell,” the demon said, and Jason narrowed his eyes.

“What are you plotting?” he asked. “What does gluing a coin to the ground do?”

The demon shrugged. “It makes the day a little bit worse for a lot of people,” he said. ”And it’s entertaining to watch. That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Then out with it,” Jason said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. Nico looked unimpressed.

“I deliberately lost the antichrist.”

Jason blinked. “What?”

“My mission was to switch the antichrist which a wealthy diplomat’s baby,” the demon said. “Instead I mixed up all the babies in that entire hospital. I don’t know which is which anymore, and neither will anyone else until the boy turns thirteen.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Jason asked.

“Because I want you to know that if the antichrist destroys the world when he’s thirteen, it won’t be because of any divine or infernal influence,” Nico said, taking another sip of his coffee. “And if you want to kill him before that time you’ll have to kill every newborn child, because this happened a week ago and they could be anywhere by now.”

Jason hesitated. “I don’t know what my orders will be.”

“But if they do order you to kill every newborn child, would you do it?” Nico asked. “Would it really be the right thing to do?”

Jason hesitated. For the first time since Egypt, he actually hesitated.

Nico nodded. “Just think about it, okay?” he said, finishing his coffee and standing up. “If you’re not going to smite me I have some spelunking to do.”

“Spelunking?” Jason repeated, not understanding.

“Exploring caves,” Nico clarified unnecessarily. “I like caves when there are no fire or brimstone. It’s cozy.”

“But,” Jason said uncertainly. “How are you tempting humans from within a cave?”

“I don’t. I’ve already glued six coins to the ground and held up traffic for an hour early in the morning, so I think I’ve worked enough for today,” Nico said. “I suppose I’ll see you around. Good day.”

Jason stared after him, for once unsure what he was meant to do. 

____

“Oh, you met Nico,” Percy laughed when Jason told him what happened. “No wonder you look upset.”

“You know him?” Jason asked, and Percy shrugged. At least Jason thought he shrugged. The connection over the burning bush was pretty bad, as usual.

“Sure, since before he fell,” Percy said, then frowned. “No,  _fell_ is the wrong word here. He was never in league with Lucifer.”

“Then how come he ended up a demon?” Jason asked.

“It’s a long story. Someone he really loved died in that war, from friendly fire,” Percy said, sounding regretful. “After that he…changed, I guess. He basically gave Heaven the finger and started hanging out on earth, talking to the humans, befriending Lilith’s kids, that sort of thing. Eventually he ended up in hell as a demon.”

“So you’re saying,” Jason concluded slowly. “That he just hung with the wrong crowd?”

“Pretty much,” Percy grinned. “I ran into him a lot during my time on earth. He’s not too bad, for a demon, but you never quite know where you have him. He tricked me into visiting hell once, though he also helped me escape from there.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t trust him?” Jason asked.

“Well, he  _is_  technically a demon,” Percy pointed out. “But on the other hand he’s probably the most trustworthy demon there is. Not that it’s saying a lot. The point is, I’m pretty sure he told you the truth about the antichrist.”

That was a problem. Jason’s superiors had told him not to worry about it, and Jason was getting the feeling they actually looked forward to the final war. Percy was telling him it would take at least thirteen more years and there was no sense in worrying about it now, but Jason still felt unsettled. Off-balance. Doubtful.

Going to see Nico probably wasn’t the best cure for that, but Jason thought that maybe, just maybe he could gain some clarity by talking to him.

He found Nico sitting on a park bench with a small gaming console in his lap. Jason had always kinda figured those things were demonic inventions.

Nico looked up at him as he approached. “Changed your mind about smiting me?” he asked, actually sounding worried. For some reason that made Jason feel bad, which was ridiculous. Jason was a soldier of Heaven and did  _not_  feel sympathy for demons, even if they looked at him with huge, scared and really dark eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jason said, sitting down beside him on the bench and looking out over the park. There were no sign of demonic influence anywhere, just people living their lives. “What are you playing?”

“ _Mythomagic_ ,” Nico said. “You play as a ancient Greek hero of your choice and fight beside gods to stop Kronos from destroying the world.”

"That sounds…strange," Jason said uncertainly. "And possibly blasphemous."

"Demon," Nico shrugged, closed the console and put it in his pocket. "So what brings you here, if you’re not doing the whole good versus evil-thing?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Jason said, trying to ignore how strange that was. "I guess I should tell you that Heaven didn’t order me to kill all the babies."

"Good," Nico nodded. "Maybe there’s still some sense left in Heaven."

"Don’t make me smite you," Jason warned him, though there wasn’t any force behind his words. "I assume Hell is preparing for the last battle."

"Predictably, yes. I take it Heaven is doing the same," Nico said, then sighed. "Sometimes it feels like I’m the only one who  _doesn’t_  want the world to end.”

"It’s Armageddon, the thing we’ve been building up to for millennia," Jason said. "The final conflict to end all conflicts, and Paradise on Earth."

"Assuming you win," Nico pointed out. "Either way, I want no part in it. I think most humans would agree with me."

"That’s why you wanted the antichrist raised as a human," Jason said, understanding. "What did Hell say about the mix-up?"

"I think your ears would fall off if I told you," Nico said with a tired smirk. "Bottom line is that they’re not happy, but they are still sure the apocalypse will happen either way."

He got on his feet. “I’m starving,” he said. “You ever had McDonalds?”

Jason frowned. “Fast food is a demonic invention,” he said, and Nico actually laughed.

"I wish I could take credit for it, but it’s human through and through," he smiled. "The toys were my idea, though."

"How is getting toys with the meal evil?" Jason asked as they walked.

"Siblings get in fights over the best toy, children get mad at their parents for forgetting the toy, older people want the toy but are too embarrassed to buy it and have bad days because of it, or do buy it and get made fun of by their peers," Nico said. "Or that’s how I sold it to my superiors. I just thought it was a good idea at the time. I like the toys."

Jason let out a huffed laugh, not really sure why he found that funny. Actually, Jason reflected as he sat down opposite Nico in the sad excuse for a restaurant, the whole situation was kinda funny. An angel and a demon walk into McDonald’s. That sounded like the beginning of a really bad joke.

"I talked to Percy about you," Jason said while Nico was nibbling on his fries.

"Then I’m surprised you didn’t smite me on the spot," Nico said, sounding sad. "Did he tell you what I did?"

"You tricked him into Hell but also got him out of there," Jason said, and Nico nodded bitterly.

"That’s the gist of it," he said.

"What happened?" Jason asked, curious, but Nico shook his head.

"It doesn’t matter now. It was a long time ago, when I was young and naive," he said dismissively. "Here, have some fries."

"Are you trying to tempt me?" Jason asked suspiciously, and Nico laughed.

"French fries are not going to make you Fall," he said. "Percy used to gulf these down by the bucket when he was in charge of Earth, and he still has straight access to Heaven."

"I’m not Percy," Jason said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, you’re not," Nico agreed, nodding as ate another fry. "He was a lot more relaxed about things."

"Slacking off on the job, you mean," Jason said.

"Never when it mattered," Nico said. "What do you do when you’re not smiting demons?"

"I was sent to earth to protect it from demonic influence," Jason frowned, and Nico rolled his eyes.

"You’ve been in Heaven pretty much since the War, right?" Nico said. "I suggest you take some time to get to know the creatures you’re protecting. I’m sure Percy would say the same."

With that he got up and melted into the shadows, leaving Jason with a half-eaten box of French fries and a lot to think about.


	25. Jasico - Mutual support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is another one of those fics I started some time ago before BoO came out and am unsure how to finish and whether I should. It’s basically a “Jason and Nico help each other deal with things after the war”-story.

Nico hadn’t planned to stay.

He, Reyna and Coach Hedge had brought the statue to Camp Half-Blood in the nick of time, unifying the armies just as Gaea’s forces attacked. After the long battle, Nico passed out from exhaustion. He woke up four days later, having missed the chance to slip away quietly.

Hazel was sitting by his bedside, and Nico was honestly happy to see her. He hadn’t allowed himself to be worried during the journey or the battle, but the relief he felt was still overwhelming.

“Hazel,” Nico said, his voice raspy and dry, but loud enough to bring attention to the fact that he was awake. She looked up from her book with a huge smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

“Thank the gods. I was afraid you weren’t going to wake up,” she said, leaning down to hug him and sob into his chest. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!”

Nico returned the hug as best he could. “I’m fine,” he said. “I was just tired. How did the battle go? Is everyone alright?”

“Everyone is fine. A little beat up, but fine,” Hazel said, sitting up again, though she took a firm hold of his hand. “And you weren’t just tired, you’ve been unconscious for days. For a while your life force was unstable, I could feel it, so don’t tell me you were just  _tired._ ”

“Sorry,” Nico mumbled. He hadn’t realized it, but she was probably right. Between transporting the huge statue and summoning the gods only knew how many skeletons to help with the battle he had completely exhausted himself, way over his limit.

He slowly sat up in bed, feeling his bones protest at the movement. He was thirsty and starving, so Hazel brought him what she called breakfast, even though it was closer to lunch. Nico knew by just looking at the mountain of food on the plate that he wouldn’t be able to able to eat half of it, but with Hazel watching he gave it his best effort.

“We’re holding a memorial service tonight, for the people who died in the battle, and after that there’s a victory and unification celebration. Think you’re up for it?”

“The memorial, yes. Not sure about the celebration,” Nico said, chewing on an apple.

“We wouldn’t have won without you, you know. You should be there,” Hazel said with a tone that left no room for argument. Nico smiled and said he’d think about it.

 

Nico was walking back towards the cabins as the Memorial Ceremony ended. The victory party would start soon, after the campers had had some time to finish crying. Nico had been lucky that everybody he cared about had survived the fight, but he was still sad to hear so many names at the ceremony. The war against Gaea had cost them dearly, but they had won, and managed to unify the camps in the process. Nico wasn’t really interested in staying around for the party, though. He was just planning on slipping away into the shadows when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Nico looked around with a frown, and was surprised to see Jason there, smiling at him.

“Hey, happy to see you’re awake. We we’re all worried about you,” Jason said. “Let’s go join the others and get something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry,” Nico said, shrugging his hand off. Jason didn’t seem to mind.

“It’s mostly party food, you don’t have to be hungry eat it,” he smiled, grabbing Nico’s arm as he started to walk towards the dining area. “Come on.”

Nico was pulled along, too surprised by the situation to fight it. As soon as they stopped by the tables Nico tried pulling his hand back, but Jason kept a hold of him, for some reason.

“Let go of me,” he said angrily, and Jason gave him a surprised look.

“Oh, right. Sorry,” he said, releasing his grip. Nico snatched his hand back immediately. Jason looked around with a wistful expression. “It’s nice to see everybody get along, isn’t it?”

“The Greeks and the Romans, you mean?” Nico asked, watching as the people from both camps gathered around the tables, making small talk and generally having a good time. The usual seating arrangement seemed to be completely ignored for the sake of the party.

Nico suddenly felt a warm hand on his back, gently urging him forward.

“Let’s go sit with Hazel and Piper,“ Jason said, gesturing towards the Hades table. Nico followed him wordlessly, but when Jason sat down beside him and not his girlfriend Nico knew something was up, especially since he sat close enough for their legs to touch.

It continued all through the evening. No matter what Nico did or where he went, Jason followed him like a lost puppy. The worst part was that he kept  _touching_ him. Nothing major, just light touches on his arms, shoulders or back. No matter how many times he shook Jason off or just simply told him to  _stop touching him,_ less than five minutes later his arms were there again. Jason didn’t even seem aware of it, for the most part. Nobody else commented on it, though they got some funny looks that Nico really could have done without.

Finally, Nico had enough, and grabbed Jason’s wrist to drag him with him to the Hades cabin, slamming the door behind them.

“It’s dark in here,” Jason commented, and Nico angrily clicked on the lights before crossing his arms over his chest.

“What’s your problem?” Nico spat. “Why do you keep following me around, and touching me?”

Jason hesitated for a second, then sighed. “I wanted to make sure you don’t run away.”

“What?” Nico asked wide eyed.

“You told me few weeks ago that you would leave as soon as everything was over,” Jason said. “I’m just trying to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Nico stared at him for a moment, then gave a hollow laugh. “And how are you planning on stopping me? By following me around for the rest of my life?”

“Is that what it would take?” Jason asked calmly, and Nico exploded.

“Why would you care what I do? ” he shouted. “I don’t belong here, and if I want to leave that’s  _my_ choice! You don’t know me! You’re not my friend!”

“But I’d like to be,” Jason said, walking over to put a hand on his shoulder, apparently unaffected by Nico’s glare. “And you’re a big reason why we won in the first place, and why the camps are unified. You  _do_  belong here.”

Nico shrugged his hand off, so Jason took a firm hold of his wrist instead. “Stop touching me!” Nico said angrily.

“Only if you swear you won’t leave,” Jason said seriously. “Not without at least talking to Hazel first.”

“She doesn’t need me anymore,” Nico said, and Jason frowned at him.

“Of course she does, you are her brother,” he said sternly. ”I’d give anything to spend more time with my own sister, and I know Hazel feels the same. Don’t you?”

Nico hung his head. “So I’ll visit. I can’t stay here. Nobody else wants me around, anyway.”

“I do,” Jason said. “And I know Reyna considers you a friend. Frank as well. The others would if you just spent a little more time with them.”

“And,” Jason continued when Nico didn’t answer. “There’s Percy and Annabeth. I understand if you don’t want to be near them, but they really want to try and be friends with you, if you’d give it a chance. I overheard them talking about it.”

“You don’t understand  _anything!_ ” Nico spat. “I can’t do it!”

“Then go to New Rome. I know you’d be welcome there,” Jason said, gently grabbing Nico’s other arm as well. “Don’t just run away, Nico. You’re better than this.”

“I’m not! This is who I am. I always run away,” Nico said, somewhere between a yell and a sob. He tried to pull away, wanting to disappear into the shadows. “I’m a coward. Let go of me!”

“You’re not a coward, Nico,” Jason said calmly. “You’re one of the bravest people I know. And I’m not going to just stand by and let you forget that.”

“You’re wrong,” Nico insisted, his voice shaking, and he hated that he could feel tears burning behind his eyelids now. “I’m not brave. I’m…I’m an outsider, a freak. I don’t belong anywhere or with anyone.”

“You could, if you gave it a chance. I promise you could,” Jason said, his voice soft, and Nico wanted so much to believe him. “Nico, please. We’ve lost enough people already. Dakota, Alayne, Octavian, Agafya, Thomas… I knew them, I grew up with them. Don’t make us lose you too. We almost thought we did already.”

There was something thick in Nico’s throat now. “I don’t know if I can stay.”

“I want to help you, if I can,” Jason said, almost pleading. “Please, Nico. Let me try.”

For some reason that was all it took for Nico’s already crumbling walls to burst. With Jason’s hands still on his arms, Nico sank down on the floor, sobbing loudly with tears streaming down his face, letting out everything he’d been holding back for years. He didn’t even protest when Jason put his arms around Nico to pull him into an embrace.

“It’s okay, Nico. It’s going to be okay,” Jason mumbled, and Nico only cried harder. Somehow Jason’s words made him feel like he was allowed to. He buried his face in Jason’s shoulder, strangely grateful for the contact. Jason shouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near him, but he was, and he was warm and alive. Nico just pulled him closer, trying to disappear into the wall of warmth and security that was Jason.

It took a long time for Nico to calm down, and Jason never stopped mumbling soothing words or reassuringly massage Nico’s neck with his thumb. Even when Nico finally stopped crying, he didn’t let go. Nico didn’t push away either. He was comfortable, warm and safe, and not quite ready to face the world on his own yet. Nico closed his eyes, letting himself lean on Jason for support.

 

He woke up a few hours later on his bed, tucked under the sheets. There was a warm body curled up against him, but thankfully it was Hazel, not Jason. As Nico smiled down at her, she opened her eyes to look at him sleepily.

“You don’t mind, right?” Hazel said. “I was so worried about you the whole time, and after the Memorial Ceremony…”

“It’s okay,” Nico said as he lay back down again and put an arm around her. There was a lump in his throat as he realized he had almost left her alone.

“I was planning on asking you earlier, but you disappeared from the party. What are you going to do now?” Hazel asked. “Are you going to stay at Camp Half-Blood?”

“No,” Nico said immediately, then hesitated. “I don’t know. Both camps could use help rebuilding, I guess. And I still have obligations in the Underworld. I’ll probably keep on doing what I used to, and move between all three.”

“As long as you stay longer than you used to,” Hazel said, drowsily. “I miss you when you’re not there, you know.”

She fell asleep before Nico had time to answer, which was probably a good thing because he didn’t know what to say. However, he knew that there was no way he was leaving now.

A thought hit him as he tried to go back to sleep. He had tried to do what Bianca had done, leaving after making sure his sibling was safe. At least she had done it to find her own life, and all Nico had planned to do was run away. Nico looked down at Hazel’s sleeping face, and decided he wasn’t going to go through with it. He had raised Hazel from the dead, and she had saved his life, and he owed her a lot more than that.

Which was why he sat Hazel down before breakfast the following day and told her his secret. Simple in theory, but in reality he was stumbling over his words, unable to look at her and blushing furiously. He was so incoherent that it took her a while to understand what he was saying, but when she did her eyes went wide.

Nico waited a long time for her to say something before she finally opened her mouth.

“I had no idea,” she said, sounding a bit confused but not disgusted, thank the gods. “I mean, I’ve never really realized it was possible for two guys to, to fall in love, but it’s the person that matters in the end, right? So it’s still the same feeling.”

“Are you really okay with this?” Nico asked, and Hazel smiled as she put her arms around him.

“It’s surprising, but as long as you’re happy, what could I possibly have a problem with?” she said, and it was with tears in his eyes that he hugged her back.

 

Nico tried to keep his visits to the Underworld brief, but he sometimes still stayed there for weeks at a time. The first time he came back to Camp Half-Blood, roughly a month after the memorial, Jason hugged him so tight he couldn’t breathe.

“I was starting to think you weren’t coming back,” he said, apparently ignoring the funny looks the other campers gave him.

“I promised I would, didn’t I?” Nico said weakly. “Let me go.”

“Right, sorry,” Jason said, but he left his hand on Nico’s shoulder again. Considering how happy Jason seemed that he was back, Nico decided to ignore it.

Percy and Annabeth were still at camp, and they seemed genuinely glad to see him too, but it was still hard for Nico to be around them. Jason’s hand on his shoulder or his back actually helped a little with that, strange as it seemed.

“Are you ever going to let go of me?” Nico asked as they were walking back to their cabins after the campfire songs. Jason winced, so it must have come out harsher than Nico intended it.

“Sorry,” he said, and his hand disappeared from Nico’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Nico said. “I don’t mind so much. I’ll see you tomorrow.“

They parted ways, and Nico went into his cabin to sleep.

 

He woke up screaming a few hours later. His heart was beating like a marching band in his chest, and he had trouble breathing. It was the worst nightmare he had had since those few terrible nights just after getting out of the jar.

His whole body was shaking as he got out of bed. He needed something, anything, to ground him to reality as his mind kept slipping back to Tartarus. In all honestly he wanted Hazel to be there, but he didn’t trust himself to shadow travel. Instead he walked out of his cabin, fighting the urge to just lay down on the ground and curl up and let the shadows take him. He walked up to the Jupiter cabin and weakly knocked on the door. There was no answer, which wasn’t that strange because it was the middle of the night. Nico was just about to turn around and walk back when the door opened.

“Nico?” Jason asked, wide eyed and looking concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Can I stay here for a little while?” Nico asked, fighting to get his breathing under control. It wasn’t a full blown panic attack like he had sometimes had, but it was pretty close.

“Of course,” Jason said, not even questioning it as he let Nico into the cabin. When Jason put a hand on his shoulder again, Nico couldn’t fight it anymore. He turned around and pressed his face into Jason’s shoulder, anchoring himself in the warmth he felt there. Life. Humanity. Nothing like Tartarus. Jason gently put his arms around him, and Nico started to feel better, safer and warmer. Like he was actually among the living.

“Nightmare?” Jason asked when Nico was finally breathing normally again.

“Something like that,” Nico said, starting to pull back. Now that he had control over himself again he felt ashamed of his own weakness. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“I’m glad you did,” Jason said, smiling down at him. “I told you, if there’s any way I can help you, I want to try.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Nico mumbled, untangling himself from Jason. “I think I’ll be fine now. I’m going back to sleep.”

Jason caught his arm before he could reach the door. “You can sleep here if you want to,” he said.

Nico hesitated. He knew very well he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep on his own, not after that particular nightmare. “I’m not sure if…”

“Nico,” Jason interrupted him, looking stern “I want you to stay.”

Nico didn’t really know what to say to that, so when Jason led him to his bed, he just followed. As he lay down beside Jason, it briefly occurred to him that this was kind of a strange thing to do, but then Jason put an arm around him and it didn’t really matter anymore.

“Sleep,” Jason urged into his hair. His breath tickled a bit, but Nico was too tired to do anything about it. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep, feeling warm and safe, and not alone.

 

When Nico woke up he found that he had turned around in his sleep, and Jason was now tightly curled up against his back with his arm around Nico’s waist. Nico blushed a bit, but found he didn’t mind as much as he thought he would. He actually debated going back to sleep when the cabin door suddenly opened.

“Jason, are you still asleep?” Piper said as she walked in. “Really, what…”

She trailed off, stopping mid-step to look at them, wide eyed. Nico tried to untangle himself, but Jason, who had apparently slept through that, still held on.

“This is not what I imagine it looks like,” Nico said, giving up his struggles and instead lightly smacking Jason’s head to wake him up. Piper was still staring at them.

“What is it then?” she asked, sounding curious rather than angry, which Nico was really thankful for. As much as he didn’t want to tell her, leaving Jason in trouble with his girlfriend would be a terrible way to pay back his kindness last night.

“I had a nightmare and almost got a panic attack, Jason offered to let me stay over to help,” he mumbled. Jason was finally starting to stir, blinking owlishly as he sat up.

“Morning, Piper,” he yawned. “And Nico. You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Nico said, trying to ignore the way Piper was still eyeing them curiously. “I’m going to head back to my cabin.”

He didn’t want to walk to the Hades cabin in his pajama, so he opted to shadow travel instead, leaving Jason alone to deal with his girlfriend. Hopefully this wouldn’t cause any strife between them.

***

Jason yawned loudly and looked up at Piper, wondering why she was looking at him like that.

“What is it?” he asked, and she frowned at him.

“What’s going on between you and Nico?” she asked.

“Nothing. We’re friends,” Jason said, a bit confused. “Why do you ask?”

“If Leo or Percy had a nightmare, would you be spooning them as well?” she said. “And lately you can’t keep your hands off him whenever he’s around. That’s why I’m asking.”

“It’s not like that,” Jason said.

“Then what’s it like?”

“I just…” Jason said, frustratedly running his hand through his hair, trying to find a way to explain it. ”When we were in Africa, he threatened to leave forever. I made him promise not to, but I still like to reassure myself that he’s actually there, you know. After everyone we lost.”

Piper nodded slowly, gesturing for him to go on.

“I don’t know, he’s been through so much,” Jason said. “I just want him to know he has a place here, people who care about him.”

Piper was silent for a while, studying him. “Jason,” she finally said. “Do you really love me?”

“Sure,” Jason said, feeling confused.

Piper frowned at him. “Then why don’t you ever tell me that?”

“Piper, what’s this about?” Jason asked, and she looked at him with sadness in her eyes.

“I’ve been worried about this for a while,” Piper said. “I think we should break up.”

“What?” Jason asked, wide eyed. “Piper, Nico and I aren’t…”

“I know,” Piper interrupted him. “But whether it’s romantic or not, you’re really affectionate around him, and you’ve never been that way with me, and it makes me wonder if it’s actually real between us.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t have full control over my charmspeak, you know that,” Piper said. “And I’m worried I may have unintentionally influenced you with it.”

“I don’t think you have,” Jason said uncertainly, though he had had the suspicion sometimes.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Piper said, smiling sadly. “Either way, I think we both need some distance to figure things out. If we still love each other afterwards, great. If not… then I’m really, really sorry, Jason.”

 

Jason found Nico by the beach a few hours later, talking to Percy about something that apparently annoyed him. He looked up as Jason approached, and his expression turned less annoyed, which was probably a good thing.

“Hey, Jason,” Percy greeted him. “You look upset. Did something happen?”

“Piper broke up with me this morning,” Jason said, feeling there was no use denying it. His hand found its way to Nico’s back for reassurance again.

“What?” Nico said, sounding panicked. “Was it because…?”

“No, it was a long time coming. Apparently,” Jason sighed. “If either of you want to spar, I would definitely be up for it.”

They went to the arena to have a three way battle, each of them trying to take down the other two, no powers involved. They were pretty evenly matched. Nico as the most agile, while Percy was the most diverse and Jason the most powerful. However, Nico had the disadvantage of not being used to fighting living humans, and ended up being too careful not to hurt them, so he was the first to get unarmed and admit defeat. Jason and Percy continued for a while afterwards, but like most their matches it ended in a draw. Still, Jason felt a little better afterwards.

He managed to keep his good spirits up for most of the day. He even smiled at Piper when she said goodbye to go stay with her father for a while. However, when night arrived he just couldn’t sleep. His mind was scrambled mess.

Sighing, he got up from his bed and out the door. He hurried over to the Hades cabin and knocked, hoping Nico was still awake. The door opened a few seconds later. Nico looked tired and was wearing the same black pajama as yesterday, but he didn’t look like he’s been sleeping.

“Hey,” Jason said. “Can I come in?”

Nico stepped aside, giving him a concerned look as he entered the cabin. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure,” Jason said honestly, sinking down to sit on the nearest bed. “I’m…I’m really confused.”

“Because of Piper?” Nico guessed, sitting down beside him about a foot away.

Jason nodded. “She said she was worried she might have used charmspeak on me to make me fall for her,” he said. “What if that is true? Was any of it real?”

Nico looked a bit frightened when Jason looked up at him. “I don’t know,” he said. “You always seemed happy to me. It looked real.”

“But what if it wasn’t?” Jason asked. “What if my feelings aren’t real?”

“Then it’s a good thing she noticed and decided to take a step back,” Nico said soberly. “If it was meant to be, you’ll find each other again.”

It was the same thing Piper had said, but hearing it from Nico calmed Jason down. “Thanks,” he said. “That helps.”

“Good,” Nico said uncertainly. “Um, did you want to stay the night?”

“If you don’t mind,” Jason said. “I’d rather not be alone right now. Can I stay with you?”

“By  _with me_  do you mean in the same bed?” Nico asked uncertainly, sighing when Jason nodded. “If it’ll help you. I owe it to you anyway, after last night.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Nico,” Jason said. “If it makes you uncomfortable just tell me.”

“It’s fine,” Nico said. “I don’t mind.”

 

Jason had always been good at being alone. He was raised to be a leader, after all, and had to stay separate for that reason. That had changed since coming to Camp Half-Blood, and even more so since the war ended. He wasn’t a leader anymore, and he was allowed to be lonely. And now, without Piper, he was lonelier and more confused than he had been after losing all his memories. At least then he had had a purpose. Now he had nothing.

Nothing except the warmth of Nico’s back against his chest. Nico was the only thing Jason felt he could be sure of right now, because he had had to put effort into befriending him. Jason loved his other friends, but they had become friends through necessity and manipulation. Nico was the one thing Jason had chosen by himself. He brought the boy a bit closer, burying his face into Nico’s hair, trying not to cry.

“Jason, are you okay?” Nico asked quietly, though he didn’t turn around. Jason was strangely thankful for that.

“No, I don’t think I am,” Jason said, the words muffled against Nico’s head. “I’m…I’m confused and angry and I don’t know who to blame. It’s not Piper’s fault, and it’s not mine either. And it’s definitely not yours so you shouldn’t have to have to listen to me go on about it. Sorry.”

“Jason,” Nico said sternly, turning on his back to be able to look at Jason with a frown. “You told me that if there was anything you could do to help me, you would. Let me return the favor. If you want to talk, I’ll listen.”

“Thank you,” Jason said. “But I’m not sure what to say. I thought I was finally finding myself after what Juno did to my memories. I even thought it might be the first time I’ve ever truly been myself, but now I’m not so sure. It’s frightening, not knowing whether your feelings are actually your own. I want them to be, but I’m just… I just don’t know.”

“Isn’t it possible it could be both?” Nico asked. “I mean, does it have to be exclusively one or the other?”

Jason thought about it for a moment. “I guess not. That just makes it more confusing, to be honest.”

“Sorry,” Nico said quietly, sounding like he regretted suggesting it.

“It makes me a bit less angry, though,” Jason said. “I wonder how long it will take before I know what was real and what wasn’t.”

“I don’t know,” Nico said, and Jason sighed as he closed his eyes, moving just a bit closer again.

“Thanks for letting me stay with you,” Jason murmured. “I’m not sure I could handle this alone.”

Nico didn’t answer, but he didn’t move away either. Jason relaxed, concentrating on the boy beside him as he slowly fell asleep.

 


	26. Jasico - Nanny/Single Parent AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by diangelonnico: Nanny/Single Parent AU

Someone was crying outside his door. Nico looked up from the sketch he was working on, listening to the sound. It sounded like a kid, probably the four-five year old boy who lived next door with his dad. Nico frowned. Strangely enough he couldn’t hear any adult soothing the child.

He got up and went out to investigate. The boy was sitting in front of the door to the apartment opposite Nico’s, crying and holding a phone.

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked, and the boy looked up, trying to dry his tears quickly.  
“I don’t have my key,” he said. “Anders and his mom already left, and dad isn’t home yet.”

“Can’t you call him?” Nico asked, pointing towards the phone, but the boy shook his head, biting his lip and looking like he was going to start crying again.

“My phone went black. I forgot to charge it,” he said. Nico looked at the phone. An old Samsung, not compatible with any charger he had.

“Do you remember his number?” Nico asked, and wasn’t surprised when the boy shook his head.

“It’s okay,” the boy said, obviously trying to put on a brave face. “Dad will be back soon. I’ll just wait here.”

Nico walked over to him and knelt down. “My name is Nico. What’s your name?” he asked.

“Aiden Grace,” the boy said. “Everyone just says Aid.”

“Well, Aid, I live just next door,” Nico said, gesturing towards his apartment. “You can come wait at my place if you like. We could leave your dad a message on the door so he knows where to find you when he gets home.”

The boy visibly hesitated. “I’m not supposed to go anywhere with strangers.”

“Fair enough,” Nico nodded. “I’ve spoken to your father a couple of times, so I’m not exactly a stranger, but if you want I could wait out here with you.”

“You don’t have to,” the boy said uncertainly, and Nico smiled.

“You’re going to be bored to death sitting here all alone,” he said, sitting down as well.

Roughly five minutes later Aidan needed to go to the bathroom, so Nico invited him in again. Afterwards Aiden got way too distracted by Nico’s shelf of movies to remember he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere with strangers. Nico supposed that was for the best.

“What’s this one about? Is it robots?” the boy asked excitedly, holding up the cover to _The Iron Giant_. Nico hesitated, wondering if there was anything in it that could scare the boy. Then he shrugged. It wasn’t like the father could chastise him for it even if there was, not after leaving his son alone like this.

“It’s about a boy who befriends a giant robot from outer space,” he said. “Want to watch it?”

The boy nodded excitedly, so Nico put it on. With the boy glued to the television Nico went back to sketching. When the movie ended, without Aidan’s dad showing up, the boy became curious in what he was doing.

“Drawing,” Nico answered when Aiden asked. “It’s my job. I’m a comic book artist.”

“That’s so cool!” The boy said excitedly. “I want to draw something too.”

Now Nico really hesitated. He naturally had plenty of art supplies in his apartment, but that’s what they were; art supplies. Not something he wanted a kid to play around with, but he couldn’t just say no either.

Nico handed him so white paper from the printer and a box of colored pencils he pretty much never used. Aiden immediately started drawing with an enthusiasm that Nico couldn’t help but admire. He liked his job, but it had been a long time since he’s been that excited about drawing.

“This is my dad,” Aiden said, showing the colorful, vaguely human-shaped scribbles on the paper. “He’s like a superhero, always catching bad guys and throwing them in jail. That’s why he’s late.”

Nico smiled, wondering what the father was actually doing. Could be modeling, for all Nico knew. Aidan’s father certainly got the looks for it. Not that Nico had noticed.

“So do you want to be a superhero as well?” Nico asked. “Who would you like to be?”

“The lightning man,” Aidan announced, and Nico frowned.

“The Flash?”

“No, the _Lightning Man_ ,” Aidan said. “In want to fly and shoot lightning at the bad guys. That would be so cool!”

Nico grinned, taking his sketch pad in hand. “What would your costume look like?”

About an hour later the doorbell rang. Mr. Grace, Aiden’s dad, was standing outside, looking stressed and worried and gorgeous. He was holding the note Nico had left on his door in his hand.

“Hi, um, is my son here?” he asked.

“Daddy!” Aiden shouted, running up to give his father a hug. “Daddy, look! Look! It’s me as a superhero!”

He excitedly showed his father the quick picture Nico had drawn for him earlier.

“So it is,” Mr. Grace said, still looking stressed. “Why didn’t Anders’ mother make sure you got home okay? And why didn’t you call me when you couldn’t get in? How long have you been here?”

"My phone died,” Aiden said dismissively. “Look! I’m shooting _lightning bolts_.”

“That’s amazing,” Aiden’s father said, then looked over at Nico. “Thank you so much for taking care of him.”

“No problem,” Nico said. “I’m just glad he didn’t have to wait for you alone.”

Mr. Grace cringed. “I didn’t mean to for it to get so late. It was only supposed to be an hour, tops,” he said. “Bad excuse, I know.”

“I’m not telling you how to raise your kids, but maybe you should get a baby sitter,” Nico said.

“We had one, but she went to college last week. I haven’t found anyone else yet,” Mr. Grace said. “Anyway, thank you for this and sorry for bothering you. I really owe you one.”

“It’s fine,” Nico said, then turned to Aidan. “I’m at home most of the time, so just knock if this happens again, okay?”

“Okay,” Aidan said happily. His father thanked him again, then they left. Nico sighed as he closed the door and went back into his own apartment. He had some work to catch up on.

***

Two days later the doorbell rang again, and Mr. Grace was standing on the other side, looking distressed.  
“I’m sorry to bother you, but do you think you could look after Aid for a few hours?” he said. “I just got called into work and can’t find anyone else at such short notice. I’ll pay you as much as I would a professional.”

Nico blinked. “You got called into work? It’s almost eight already,” he pointed out.

“They found a body. I need to check out the crime scene,” Mr. Grace said. “Do you have time?”

“Sure,” Nico said, a little surprised. “I don’t mind. I didn’t know you were a detective.”

“Aid didn’t tell you?”

“He said superhero,” Nico said, and Mr. Grace laughed.

“I wish,” he said. “Thank you so much for doing this. I really can’t thank you enough.”

“It’s fine,” Nico said. “Anything I should know? Bedtimes or something?”

“Aid knows what to do. Call me if there are any problems,” Mr. Grace said. “I need to run.”

He went to get Aidan from his apartment, kissed his forehead and then hurried down the stairs. Nico was left standing in the doorway with the child.

“So, um, want to watch a movie or something?” he asked lamely, not really sure what to do now that he was actually babysitting.

“Can I have popcorn?” Aidan asked curiously.

“Sure,” Nico shrugged. It wasn’t like Mr. Grace had forbidden it or anything. Besides, the boy looked like he could use some cheering up.

***

He was sitting on the couch in the Graces’ living room with his sketchbook in his lap when Mr. Grace finally came home, some time after midnight.

“Hey,” Mr. Grace said, sounding tired. “How did it go?”

“Fine,” Nico said, getting up. “He tried to stay up and wait for you, but he kept falling asleep so I put him to bed.”

“I’m sorry,” Mr Grace said. “It was a public place so we had to get it all done tonight. Double homicide. Very messy.”

“Tell him that, not me,” Nico said, then frowned. “No, actually. Don’t tell him that. Just try to make it up to him.”

“I know. I feel terrible about it,” Mr. Grace said. “Thank you so much for staying with him. About payment, I’m not sure just how much you…”

“We can take care of that later,” Nico interrupted. “Go tell your son you’re home.”

“I will,” Mr. Grace smiled. “Thank you again. Sorry I had to ask on such short notice.”

“It’s fine,” Nico said. “Though a warning would be nice next time.”

“Next time?” Mr. Grace asked, sounding a bit surprised. “Would you be willing to babysit again?”

Nico shrugged. “I work from home, so as long as you can give a heads up so I can adapt my schedule it’s fine,” he said. “Until you find someone else, at least. I don’t like the thought of Aiden being alone.”

“Me neither. Police work isn’t really compatible with raising a child,” Mr. Grace said.

“No arguments here,” Nico said, heading out the door. “See you later.”

***

Mr. Grace (or Jason as he asked Nico to call him) was actually a much better father than Nico’s first experience had lead him to think. The incident with the keys was a one time-thing, caused mostly by a misunderstanding with Aid’s friend’s mother, and it wasn’t often that Mr. Grace was called away in the evenings either, usually his childless colleagues could cover for him.

Still, there was often an hour or two between daycare closing and Jason getting home from work, and Aiden usually spent that time with Nico. He wasn’t supposed to become a regular babysitter, but it slowly happened anyway. Nico actually enjoyed it. Aiden was a good kid, and the handsome father was a definitive plus. Besides, when he was babysitting at least he had an excuse to ignore the pressure to work for a moment.

A Saturday evening about two months later Nico was startled by a knock on the door, and even more surprised to see Aiden’s father standing outside, looking radiant as always in a white shirt and black pants. Nico was suddenly very aware that he himself was wearing old sweatpants and a t-shirt with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-motif.

“Hi, is this a bad time?” Jason asked with a smile.

“No,” Nico frowned as he shook his head. “I thought Aid was spending the weekend with his mother. He seemed so excited about it.”

“He is. It’s rare that she’s in town, or even in the country,” Jason confirmed. “I was actually wondering if you’d let me buy you dinner or something. I’d like to get to know you better.”

Nico stared at him in disbelief for a moment before mentally kicking himself. Of course Jason wanted to know him better, he was entrusting him with his son on a daily basis. Jason was just making sure Nico was a decent person, that’s all. It was _not_ a date.

“Um, if you already have plans, I understand. No hard feelings,” Jason said, smile faltering, and Nico realized he must have spaced out. That would leave a great impression.

“No. No, I don’t,” Nico said hastily. “Or, well, I was planning to watch a movie or something by myself, but I can do that anytime. I’ll go with you if you want to.”

“Great,” Jason said, smiling happily even though Nico had basically just given solid evidence on how boring he was. “Do you like sushi? There’s a great restaurant just around the corner.”

“That works,” Nico said, then frowned. “Wait, you mean right now?”

“Not if you’re busy,” Jason said. “I can come back later.”

“No, it’s fine, just let me change my clothes real quick,” Nico said hurriedly. “You can come in and wait if you want. It’ll just be a moment.”

“Sure. No rush,” Jason said, following him inside and looking around. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually been in here.”

“There’s not much to see, but make yourself at home,” Nico said, then hurried into the bedroom.

As he closed the door behind and helplessly looked at his wardrobe him he realized he should have asked Jason to come back later, to give himself time to find something to wear, and groom himself a bit. And collect his nerves.

 _It’s NOT a date_ , Nico reminded himself sternly. _It’s just the guy whose son I babysit. I can wear whatever I want._

Still, he ended up with the sleek black pants and long-sleeved shirt he’d worn on the last date he went on (admittedly not a good experience, but the clothes were nice). He figured he could at least make an effort to look decent, even if he didn’t come close to Jason’s standards. He took a deep breath, then exited the bedroom.

He found Jason inspecting his shelf of movies, much like his son had done two months prior. Nico couldn’t help but smile.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said, and Jason looked up at him.

“You clean up nicely,” he commented, and Nico tried to hide his blush with a scowl.

“Let’s just go.”

***

The meal was pretty nice. Jason had trouble with his chopsticks and kept dropping his food, and Nico honestly thought it was adorable.

“Darn,” Jason muttered as his nigiri fell straight on top of the wasabi. “I’m so bad at this.”

“You need a steady hand,” Nico laughed, demonstrating how easily he handled it. “See?”

“I usually have a steady hand,” Jason said frustratingly. “I hold the highest score at the shooting range.”

Nico kind of wanted to ask if he’d ever shot anyone, but that would probably spoil the mood. “Maybe you’re just scared of me,” he joked instead.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Jason laughed. “Maybe if you tell me more about yourself I won’t be as scared.”

 _Not a date_ , Nico reminded himself firmly even as he smiled. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Jason smiled. “What made you want to become a cartoonist?”

During the cause of the evening, Nico made sure to keep chanting _Not a date_ over and over in his head, or he would probably have ended up telling Jason to bend him over the table. The man was gorgeous, funny and and apparently a huge nerd. How was it possible that Nico had lived next door to this man for almost a year and not fallen for him before?

Well, he was falling pretty hard now, and expecting to crash into the ground any second. _Not a date_ , Nico thought for what must have been the thousandth time as they were walking back towards their apartment building.

“So do you have anything you need to do this evening?” Jason asked. “I kinda noticed you have all the recent Batman-movies and I haven’t seen the last one yet. I kinda missed it when it was showing in theaters.”

“It has issues,” Nico said. “But sure, we could watch it. I have no other plans.”

 _And even if I had I would cancel them_ , Nico thought, then angrily chastised himself in his head. _For the last time, this is NOT A DATE. Get yourself together._

“Great, I’ll make popcorn,” Jason smiled happily, and Nico was in a sort of daze as they sat down on his couch to watch the movie later. It wasn’t a big couch, and they’re legs kept touching. It shouldn’t have been affecting him as much as it did. Nico blamed the fact that he hadn’t slept with anyone for a long time now.

Nico wondered if he imagined the slight blush on Jason’s cheek, or if the other actually felt it as well. It wouldn’t be so strange, really. Jason was raising a kid more or less alone and had a busy job. It had probably been longer for him than for Nico. Maybe he would even be open to it.

It was pretty late when the movie ended, and Jason slowly got on his feet

“I should get going,” he said, sounding slightly uncertain. “Thanks for tonight.”

“You could stay,” Nico said before he could stop himself. Jason’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Um,” he said uncertainly, and Nico was hoping to just sink through the floor in shame before he continued with: “Are you sure?”

Nico blinked, then threw caution through the window and got up to unceremoniously push his lips against Jason’s. The response was immediate, and Nico found himself pressed between the wall and Jason’s muscular body. Nico had been aching to touch him all evening and now he had his chance. Nico let his hands wander, determined to make this the best one night stand Jason had ever had.

It’s not like he had a chance for more than that, anyway.

***

Nico woke up with someone’s hand in his hair, soothingly combing their fingers through the strands. He felt good, ridiculously so, and just wanted to remain in that state of bliss for a little longer.

“You awake?” a deep voice said softly from somewhere above his head, spoiling his peace and causing a wave of panic. Nico forced his eyes open, just to suddenly stare at Jason Grace’s naked chest in front of him. Nico froze, trying to get his mind working, but quite frankly it was a bit hard to think when faced with muscles that perfect. The part of his brain that wasn’t drooling was itching to get up and fetch his sketchbook.

“You okay?” Jason asked, sounding worried, and Nico managed to snap out of it. He shook his head to clear it, not to answer the question, but Jason apparently misunderstood.

“Oh,” he said, sounding disappointed and hurt if Nico wasn’t misinterpreting him as well, and the hand disappeared from Nico’s hair. “I should…I guess you’ll want me to leave, then?”

“No!” Nico said hastily. “No, I’m just trying to figure this out.”

“Figure what out?” Jason asked, moving to sit up beside him. “Are you regretting what happened last night?”

Nico slowly sat up as well. “I thought you would be.”

Jason gave him a wry smile. “I admit it wasn’t what I had in mind when I asked you to dinner yesterday,” he said. “But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. More than I should have, probably.”

Nico blinked. “What?”

“Don’t worry, I understand if you want to keep this a one night stand,” Jason said hastily. “Not many people want to become involved with someone who has a kid. I get that. I won’t make a big thing out of it. I just…”

Nico held up a hand to stop him. “Wait, hold on,” he said uncertainly. “Involved?”

Jason gave a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. “God, I’m so bad at this,” he muttered. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that I kinda have a crush on you, but I won’t push.”

“But, wait, so last night wasn’t just getting it on with the first person available after a long period of abstinence?” Nico asked. “That’s what I thought it was.”

“For you, maybe. Not for me,” Jason said, looking a bit sad, though he made an attempt to smile. “Though I did get swept up in the flow. You’re right that it has been a long time.”

“Oh,” Nico said trying to process that. “So you’re saying you want to go out with me?”

Jason nodded. “You’re really not a morning person, are you?” he said, smiling slightly. “Yes, that’s what I was trying to get through to you. But like I said, I’ll never mention it again if you don’t want me to.”

“No, I…” Nico said. “Sorry if I’m being slow, it’s just…I never thought you would like me back.”

“Back?” Jason repeated softly.

Nico blushed. “Yes, I’ll go out with you,” he said with a scowl. “This has got to be the most awkward morning after ever.”

Jason laughed. “I don’t know. I like where it’s going,” he said, reaching out to touch Nico’s face. “Is it okay if I kiss you, then?”

“I probably have morning breath,” Nico said, and Jason gave him an amused grin, moving closer.

“I really don’t care,” he said, pressing their lips together. Nico decided he didn’t care either, and wrapped his arms about Jason’s waist. His body was still warm from sleeping, and Nico pulled him a bit closer. His mind was still muffled with sleepiness and shock over the fact that this gorgeous guy actually wanted to kiss him that he wasn’t really aware of Jason pushing him down on the bed before the other man was already on top of him. Well, it wasn’t like he minded.

“Are you sure about this?” Jason asked pulling back a little to be able to talk. “I mean, I have a kid and a busy job and barely any time at all…”

“I know,” Nico said, a bit short of breath. “I want this. I want you.”

Jason smiled, leaning back in. “Good,” he said, giving Nico a short kiss before moving down his neck. ”You have no idea how hard it was to offer to leave when you’re looking like this.”

Nico smiled. “I think I have some idea.”

***  
Judging by how the morning went on, Nico had been right to assume they were both starved for sex. When afternoon arrived they were still naked in bed (despite actually getting up to take a shower in between, though it didn’t exactly end with them getting clean.) Nico was completely exhausted and various places on his body hurt, but as he cuddled up to Jason he was still wondering if he could muster up the strength for another round.

“Hey, Nico?” Jason asked softly, and Nico gave a short laugh.

“Give me a moment to recharge at least,” he said. “I’m starting to think Aid was right about you being a superhero. Are you sure you don’t actually have gamma induced stamina or something?”

“I doubt it, but thanks,” Jason grinned. “Actually it wasn’t that, at least not yet. I was just wondering if you’d be okay with me telling Aid about this.”

“This?” Nico repeated lazily. “Sure, as long as you spare him the details. He’s way too young to know about ‘this’.”

“Agreed,” Jason nodded. “But telling him we’re dating is okay, right?”

“Yes, it’s okay,” Nico said. “How do you think he’ll take it?”

“He’s almost as smitten with you as I am, so I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Jason said, pulling him a bit closer. Nico rested his head on Jason’s chest, listening to his heartbeat as he closed his eyes.


End file.
